Never again!
by Katakurii
Summary: Another story based off TheVictor's "Once Again". Luffy loses his nakama and gets another chance. He gets sent back in time and gives his powers and knowledge to his younger self. Will he be able to save his nakama? Rated T just to be sure, slight OOC Luffy, smart Luffy, OP Luffy, slight LuffyxRobin.
1. C1: Second Beginning

**Never again!**

 **Hello people, I'm new on Fanfiction, at least when it comes to writing. I've been reading lots of stories and wanted to write my own one. My favourite story was TheVictor's "Once Again". It's a shame he dropped it, so I decided to write a new one based on it. I don't intend to drop it, but you have to realize writing stories is hard. You sit on there for hours, thinking what to do next. Anyways, this story is going to be written by myself, but I might include elements of other "Once Again" based stories. Have fun reading it!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**.

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 **Chapter one: Second Beginning**

 _Flashback: Luffy had beaten Kaido and freed Wano Kuni. After that, he found the fourth Road Poneglyph. He and his nakama found out where Raftel was and sailed there. But they weren't alone, Fleet Admiral Sakazuki gathered ALL of the Marines and confronted them right in front of Raftel. He had 1000 warships and one million men. Luffy and his nakama were heavily outnumbered. Despite this, they put up a good fight. Luffy knew there were going to be casualties on his side, but he took the risk. All of his nakama died._

 _The first to die was Nami, she was stabbed by a sword, right through the heart. This also broke Luffy's heart, but he fought on._

 _The second to die was Chopper. He was hit by too many rockets. Not even his monster form could handle it. Luffy almost died from sadness, but kept fighting._

 _After that it was Brook's turn. His body was obliterated by magma and then his soul was trapped in kairoseki and thrown into the sea._

 _Usopp died next, by a magma punch in his face. The front half of his head was completely devoured by Akainu's magma. Luffy's spirit almost broke, but his other friends encouraged him to fight on._

 _Robin was the fifth victim of the Marines. She was attacked from behind and brutally beaten to death by multiple spiked kairoseki maces. Luffy died on the inside, but continued for the others._

 _Franky fell to them only minutes later. He was impaled by elecric spears. These spears made his weapons explode and his system crashed. The little natural life he had vanished moments later._

 _Jinbe was the seventh to die. He succumbed to his gunshot injuries. Luffy mourned greatly of his death, saying it's unfair that he has only been in his crew for a short time, just to die._

 _Now only Luffy and his two best men were left. Sanji died first. He protected Luffy and Zoro too often, taking too many gunshots and swords slashes for himself. Before dying, he told Luffy he truly believed he could win. His final words, to Zoro, were: "Zo… ro…, you were the best friend I've ever had. *Cough* Despite our bickering and arguing, I knew you were my best friend. I said so many things I regret. Please… forgive me!"_

 _After Sanji's final speech, Zoro let out a scream of rage, killing 5000 of the 8000 Marines left all by himself. He also destroyed 70 of the last 100 warships alone. Just when he had no cover for a second, due to fighting Kizaru, he was shot by a sniper, through his neck. Both of his major veins were cut by the bullet. A huge fountain of blood turned everything around him red. Zoro's last words were: "I'm sorry captain, I promised to never lose again, but… ARGHHH! I wasn't strong enough! Forgive me!"_

 _This was the last straw. Luffy unleashed a strong blast of king's haki, powerful enough to kill 2800 of the last living Marines. He then activated Gear 5 and killed another 150 with one blow. Out of blind hatred, he destroyed the last 30 warships and brutally killed almost every other Marine. The most brutal kill, however, was that of Akainu. Luffy ripped him in two with his bare hands. Despite all this hatred, he still kept his compassion for his loved ones, and only spared two, his grandfather Monkey D. Garp and his old friend Coby._

" _Luffy", Garp hesitated, "I… I'm sorry for being a Marine, I'm sorry for working for the World Government, I'm sorry for sitting in the same boat with those who killed your friends. I'm sorry for not taking action, will you ever forgive me?"_

" _Luffy-san", Coby whispered._

" _It's okay. I am the one whose fault it is. I couldn't protect my nakama. It's not your fault.", Luffy quietly said. He wasn't even crying anymore, just sitting._

" _Luffy-san", Coby began, "I ate the time-time fruit. If you want, I can send you back in time. You will be stronger and have your memories, but your scar will remain."_

 _Tears started to build up again in Luffy's eyes, but this time they were teary of joy. "Thanks", he exclaimed, "now I can go back in time and save my nakama!"_

" _So, when in your life do you want me to send you?", Coby asked._

" _When I was in Makino's bar as a seven-year-old.". Luffy started to smile again._

" _Okay, will do!", Coby said._

" _Good luck Luffy, this time I'm rooting for you!", Garp said, with a little joy in his voice._

" _Thanks, both of you!", Luffy shouted and disappeared._

 _..._

Meanwhile, a 7-year-old Luffy sat in Makino's bar, talking to the pirate Shanks. To his surprise, time stopped and a young man appeared in front of him. Young Luffy was scared. The older Luffy noticed this and began to talk.

"No need to be afraid!", he calmly spoke. "I'm not here to harm you!"

"Who-who are you? Where am I? Why can't everyone move?", young Luffy asked.

"A friend of mine sent me here. He ate the time-time fruit. He sent me here so that I can save my nakama.", older Luffy answered.

"To save your nakama?" Young Luffy was curious.

"OUR nakama", older Luffy corrected, "I am you, but from the future."

"THAT'S SO COOL!", young Luffy exclaimed, "Did I become Pirate King?"

"Almost.", Luffy answered. "But on our way, we got attacked and my nakama died."

Older Luffy was crying again. Young Luffy saw that and tried to comfort him.

"Don't cry!"

"How can't I?", older Luffy screamed. He looked into the wide opened eyes of his younger self and slowly stopped crying.

"You!", older Luffy began, "You can become Pirate King!"

"C-can I?"

"Yes! If I touch you, I can give you all of my strength, my skills, my memories, but also my scar. After that, I'll disappear."

"Let's do this!", young Luffy exclaimed.

The older Luffy touched his younger version's hand. Younger Luffy screamed in pain as he gained new muscles and a scar, which were too much for his small, weak body, and new information, which was too much for his sensible little brain. At the same time, older Luffy became more and more transparent. Despite that, he gave his younger self the biggest smile he'd ever seen. He, the younger Luffy, understood everything and smiled back.

Before completely vanishing, older Luffy had one more thing to say to his future self: "Remember, always protect your nakama, they'll need you!"

Older Luffy disappeared and younger Luffy was finally aware of everything.

'Thank you for another chance, Coby. I'll make sure you'll become a good marine.', he thought.

'Yosh, Let's do this!'

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 **Thanks for reading. I'll try to upload as often as I can, but sometimes I'm gone, and sometimes I have to learn for school. Constructive criticism allowed. Rate and review if you like.**


	2. C2: Familiar Fruits and Faces

**Never again!**

 **I worked on the first chapter a little. I saw that I need to learn a lot about writing, so don't be harsh on me please. Not only that, I'm also unfamiliar with the mechanics of fanfiction. I use the app to read stories, so I might do something wrong a pc user doesn't do. Once again, go easy on me please. I will try my best. So far thanks to all supporters of my story, it means a lot to me.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Familiar fruits and faces**

Despite realizing everything his former self did, Luffy was still shocked on the inside. All this still felt a little weird to him. So unlike normally, he sat still. Shanks noticed Luffy didn't talk anymore. To his surprise, Luffy ignored everything. Until Higuma came. Luffy remembered he was the one who's fault it was that Shanks lost one of his arms. Technically, it also was his fault, at least partly, for eating a devil fruit, thus not being able to swim. But now, after getting a second chance, Luffy wanted to protect Shanks' arm at all costs.

"Oi, bartender!", Higuma called, moving towards Makino. "Do you have some sake?"

"No, not at the moment, but tomorrow you can have as much as you-"

"Listen!", Higuma interrupted. "I want sake right here and right now, not tomorrow or anything. I'm sure you don't want me doing some damage to this place.", he ruthlessly said with a smirk.

Now Shanks intervened. "Hold on! You can't just threaten to damage the bar, why don't we solve this peacefully?"

Higuma took Shanks' glass of sake and emptied it over him. "Wait, is that sake?"

Makino became more and more nervous.

"I thought you said you didn't have sake!", Higuma yelled.

"Well, they came here before and got hold of the last sake I had.", she tried to explain.

"Bad luck. Men, destroy this place!"

Shanks warned him. "Hey! Don't do that.". His voice was calm, yet serious and threatening.

Higuma then got angry. "Do you know who I am? I am Higuma the bandit, there's a bounty of 8 Million Berry on my head. You see, pirates can only act cool, us mountain bandits can easily kill cowards like you!"

"Coward? Shanks is no coward, apologize!", Luffy shouted.

"Now who's this little brat, huh?"

Higuma approached Luffy. Luffy just gave him a death glare.

"Huh huh, if I was you, I'd apologize.", Higuma threatened him.

But Luffy's position was clear. "Apologize to you? I'd rather apologize to a cockroach, but thinking about it, you are one."

Everyone in the bar dropped their jaw. Some of Shanks' crew started laughing.

"Do you want to die? I'm gonna kill you!", Higuma yelled, ready to pull out his sword.

Shanks wanted to react, but Luffy already anticipated. He let out a strong wave of King's haki, making Higuma's men fall on the floor unconcsious, and the leader himself shudder heavily on his knees, before getting unconscious too.

The jaws reached the floor. After 10 seconds of absolute silence, Shanks was the first to react. "Luffy, that was King's haki! To top that off, it was a controlled blast! How did you do that?"

The others began nodding.

"I… I don't now if you'll believe me, but…", Luffy stammered.

"I'm pretty sure I won't believe you that fast, but tell us.", Benn, Shanks' vice-captain, spoke.

"Okay.", the boy began. "Not long ago, time stopped around me. Then I was approached by an older me. He said that he was sent here from the future. He told me his nakama died, so his friend who ate the Time-Time fruit gave him a second chance by sending him to me. After some more explanations, he merged with me. I gained his strength, his skills, his memories, and even some of his body traits, like this scar."

Luffy took his shirt off. The scar on his chest was a shock to everyone, even Shanks, who is a Yonko.

"Who-who did this to you?", asked Makino, seriously concerned about the child.

"Admiral Akainu.", Luffy snarled.

"WHAT?!", everyone including Shanks exclaimed.

"Do you believe me now?"

Eyeryone in the bar nodded. This was fortunate for Luffy, as he didn't need to explain more things. Then he remembered his devil fruit. He accidently ate it when he was young, in this bar.

"Shanks", Luffy asked, "can I eat that devil fruit?"

"You mean the Gomu Gomu no mi? Why?"

"That was my devil fruit, I ate it back then."

"But if you eat it, you'll never be able to swim again!", Shanks objected.

"I'm aware of it and willing to pay the prize for saving your arm.", Luffy said.

"My arm? What does that have to do with this?", the redhead questioned.

"When I, uhm, the other me, was young, you saved me from a sea monster and lost your left arm.", the boy answered.

"Oh really? Hahaha, guess I'm lucky then!", the Yonko laughed.

"But guys,", Luffy spoke, "don't tell anyone about our conversation and everything that happened, I really don't want to draw attention on myself."

"Luffy, your secret will stay safe, trust me. Now everyone, let's drink on this kid's second chance and my sound arm!"

The rest of the day went on peacefully, Luffy and the Red Hair Pirates shared a lot of laughs, partied, drank. Because Luffy was a kid again, he only drank juice.

Next morning, "Red-Haired" Shanks entrusted his beloved straw hat to Luffy. "You'll protect it, will ya?"

"Yes, I'll do everything to protect it, you can count on me!", Luffy vigorously, yet happily declared.

…

After Shanks and his crew left, everything went like before. Luffy would meet the Dadan family and eventually become brothers with Ace and Sabo. He also remembered Sabo's "death", and saved him using his speed. But of course, he wouldn't let him or others see his powers. Whenever Ace and Sabo were around, he acted like he was their weak little brother. But when he was alone, he would train his haki in the woods.

That's how he saved Sabo in the first place. When he was alone in the jungle, he could feel Sabo's presence in the far due to observation haki. He then remembered that it was the day Sabo would "die" after getting shot at by Saint Jalmack. In not even a blink of an eye, he got to the boat and knocked Sabo unconscious so that the blonde couldn't see his powers and the person saving him. A few hours later, Sabo would wake up at a beach far away from his home and near the Dadan Family's hideout. After seeing his brother is alive, Ace promised to never leave Sabo alone anymore and vowed to protect him at all costs.

Years later, when Ace and Sabo were 17, they parted as co-captains. They asked Luffy to join them, but he refused, saying that he will set up his own pirate crew.

After 3 years, Luffy was ready to set sail. During that time, he mastered CP9's Rokushiki including the Rokuogan.

'Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, Franky, Brook, Jinbe, I'm coming!'

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 **So how did you like this chapter. I hope it's better than the first one, I put lots of effort in this chapter. Once again, thank you for your support. Constructive criticism allowed. Rate and review if you like.**


	3. C3: Little Coby and Marimo

**Never again!**

 **So, I've been looking around and I've gained a few more supporters. Thank you all, I'm glad you're interested in my story. Today, I will post a little longer chapter. Sit back and enjoy reading.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Little Coby and Marimo**

When Luffy set sail, everyone from his village and even the mountain bandits from the Dadan Family came to the shore to bid farewell.

"Bye bye Luffy, look after yourself and good luck!", Makino cheered, waving her hands.

"Luffy, *sob* stay out of danger *sob*, you hear me? *sob*", Dadan called, crying about her 'adoptive child' leaving.

The rest of the Dadan Family did like their boss.

"Why are you cheering to a pirate?!", Mayor Wood Slap yelled, despite caring for the former inhabitant of his village. "What if Garp becomes aware of this?"

The village was now far behind the young pirate's boat. He couldn't hear the voices anymore.

'heh, let's continue!', he thought.

About half an hour later, a giant storm came up, with big whirls.

'Oh, this is where I meet Coby. Might as well sleep now.', he thought.

'Wait, I didn't get in the barrel yet!'

So he climbed into the wood barrel and took a nap. 'It won't be long Coby, and I will rescue you from that fat whale!'

…

Luffy woke up. There wasn't much room in the barrel, so he punched it open. Doing so, he knocked out two of the Alvida Pirates.

"Ahh, what a beautiful sleep!", he let out.

By his side, there was a frightened little Coby.

"Who-who are you?", he stammered, fearfully shaking.

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy, future king of the pirates!", the strawhat proudly declared.

"King of the pirates? No way, impossible! You can't become king of the pi- ***BONK!*** "

"Ow! Why did you hit me?"

"Because you said I couldn't become king of the pirates.", Luffy spoke.

"Yeah, sorry…", Coby muttered, slightly embarrassed.

"So, why exactly are you here and what's your name?", Luffy asked, already knowing the answer.

"M-my name is Coby. I was kidnapped by Alvida and her crew some time ago. That's why I'm here."

"I'm sure you hate this life.", Luffy said.

"Yes, I hate this life. One day, I'll become a great Marine, and when this day comes, I'll arrest Alvida!", the cabin boy declared.

"Who are you going to arrest?", a fat woman called from the shadows.

"A-alvida!", Coby screamed. He was really scared.

"Coby, who is that ugly fat whale?", Luffy asked, mocking Alvida.

Coby, Alvida and her subordinates were shocked by his words.

"How dare you, you brat! Coby, who is the most beautiful pirate in the world?", Alvida let out.

"Uhm, uhm…", the pink-haired stuttered, hesitating.

"Coby, who is the fattest, ugliest old hag in the East Blue?", Luffy asked with a cheeky wide grin on his face.

"Alvida!", Coby yelled out, making his captain burst out of anger.

"COOOBYYYY!", Alvida shouted enraged, about to hit Coby with her mace.

'Even if I die, this was definitely worth it.', he thought.

Before the overweight pirate could hit Coby, Luffy placed himself in front of his almost-made friend. At first, Coby feared the black-haired would die, but to his surprise, he wasn't even hurt a single bit. Instead, he was having the widest smile the kid had ever seen.

"I'm a rubber man, hitting me with such a weak weapon won't help you.", the 17-year-old proudly said.

"Men, attack! Kill both of those brats!", the overweight pirate ordered.

But they, the Alvida Pirates, were nowhere near the level of Luffy. He beat every single one of them, without haki and even devil fruit attacks of course. The last one standing was 'Iron Mace' Alvida.

"DIEEEE!", she yelled, charging at Luffy.

"Gomu Gomu no Pistol!", Luffy exclaimed, punching Alvida off the ship.

Coby gasped for air. Never in his life he had seen such a strong person. And now that Alvida was defeated, he was free again.

"How did you stretch your arm like that?", the young boy curiously asked.

"I ate the Gomu Gomu no mi, I can turn my body into rubber.", Luffy explained. "By the way, are we friends?"

"Yeah, I wanted to ask that too.", Coby said.

"Do you still want to become a Marine?"

"Yes, but I'll always remember you saving me."

"Do you know where Shells Town is?", Luffy now asked, changing the topic.

"Yes, it's not far from here."

"Good, I want to recruit Zoro as my nakama.", the older one declared, wanting to see him again.

"Zoro? You mean 'Pirate Hunter' Roronoa Zoro? No, that's impossible! You can't recruit that guy, he hates pirates and will probably kill y- ***BONK!*** "

"Ow, why did you hit me this time?"

"You overreacted.", Luffy explained with a calm tone.

"Hey look!", Coby shouted. "There is a boat and someone inside, perhabs he or she will help us get to Shells Town."

'Nami', Luffy thought. "Okay Coby, let's get to the boat!", he shouted, jumping off the ship after grabbing his friend. Coby just screamed due to Luffy's madness.

…

On a small boat, there was a girl with orange hair. She was counting the money she had stolen from the fancy ship before Alvida and her crew attacked it. There wasn't much from the ship after the raid and the fight she didn't notice. Suddenly, her calm voyage was interrupted by two boys, one around her age with a straw hat, the other one noticably younger and with glasses, who crashed into her boat. She really didn't know what to say about this.

"Oi, Na- I mean pretty girl, will you take us to Shells Town?", Luffy loudly asked. He was so happy to see her. It was better than the first time to him.

'Oh man, he definitely knows how to talk with people!', both Nami and Coby thought.

"Y-yes, I was also going to Shells Town.", Nami answered, not knowing what to do.

"So, who are you?", Luffy asked, although knowing her name. She was his one and only navigator after all.

"I'm Nami", she nervously brought out of her lips. "And who are you?"

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy, future king of the pirates!", he proudly stated, knowing the first impression wouldn't be that good.

"So you're a pirate?", she asked, raising an angry brow.

"Yes! Do you want to be my nakama?", the 17-year-old requested, smiling brightly at her.

"What? Hell no! I hate pirates!", the orange-haired snapped.

"Why?", Luffy asked, pretending like he didn't know her past, experiences with bad pirates, and Arlong, especially Arlong. He wanted to get her trust early.

"They're all dirty thieves and murderers!", she growled in disgust.

"Now now!", Luffy began, lecturing her. It was funny to him, since she used to lecture him all the time in his former life. "First, not all pirates are evil. Second, this is ironic, coming from a thief like you, isn't it?"

"Oh shut up, you don't know anything!", the girl groaned.

"If I don't know anything, why don't you tell me?", the strawhat asked.

"Give me a reason why I should tell you!", the ginger demanded.

"Because I could help you.", Luffy simply stated. It was the truth. He really wanted to help his nakama, more than ever.

'Could he really…? No, no way! Not Arlong!', she thought, believing fishmen were stronger than all humans.

"Hey guys, look! We're there!", Coby exclaimed, pointing with his finger at the docks.

The three arrived in Shells Town.

"Hey Nami!" Luffy said, pointing to Nami. "Have you made up your mind yet?"

'Maybe I could use him…', Nami viciously thought.

"I might tell you, but for that you need to get me a specific map.", she stated, convinced he'd actually do that for her.

"And where would that map be?", Luffy asked.

"In the Marine base.", the girl answered. "And while you're getting the map, I'll stay and wait here."

"Okay, will do!"

"Whaaat?! But Luffy-san, you can't just steal something from a Marine base!", Coby shouted in disbelief.

"Who said anything of stealing? And besides, that's where I wanted to go in the first place.", Luffy spoke. "Yosh, let's go Coby!"

…

To get some information, the two young boys went to a tavern. When Luffy asked about Roronoa Zoro, everyone glared at them – except a girl named Rika, who was willing to speak.

"What do you know about Zoro?", Luffy asked.

"He's a good man, he saved my life. Three weeks ago, Captain Morgan-san's son Helmeppo-san came here to eat. Suddenly, his dog attacked me and Zoro-san killed the dog, saving my life. And for killing his dog, Helmeppo-san wanted to execute him. But Zoro-san made a deal with Helmeppo-san. If he doesn't eat anything for 4 weeks, Helmeppo-san will let him go. But Helmeppo-san doesn't want to keeps his promise, he's going to kill him in three days!"

'Helmeppo you douchebag! Well, at least he'll be a good guy after joining the Marines', Luffy thought.

"I'm going to the Marine base and give Zoro-san some riceballs!", Rika said.

"No", Luffy decided. "It's too dangerous for a little girl like you, but after I free him, I'll bring him here. Then you can give him as many riceballs as you want."

"But-"

"No Rika, he's right! What if you get caught by Helmeppo or even worse, Captain Morgan? You're staying here!", Rika's mother scolded.

"Okay mom!", she muttered, clearly disappointed.

"So, Coby, are we going?", Luffy urgingly asked.

"Y-yeah, right away!"

"Yosh! Wait for us, Zoro!"

…

Luffy and Coby arrived at the walls of 153rd Branch. The young captain then used his devil fruit powers to lift Coby and himself up the wall. They were now staring at Zoro, who was tied to a wooden pole. Said swordsman then saw them.

"Oi kids, get out of here! You're an eyesore!", Zoro shouted.

Luffy jumped over the wall, Coby just watched, thinking about the negative consequences.

"Shishishi! Hungry?", the pirate greeted the prisoner, joking a little.

"If you came here to mock me, I don't care. I won't eat anything until next week, when Helmeppo lets me go."

"You do realize he won't hold his promise, he's going to have you executed in three days.", Luffy bluntly informed his future first mate.

"Fuck, I knew it! That spoiled little shit!", the green-haired snarled.

"By the way, I'm Monkey D. Luffy, future king of the pirates. Do you want to be my nakama?"

"As if I would want to be a pirate! I'm a bounty hunter, I kill people like you for lunch!"

"If I get your swords, would you join me then? I mean, it's better than dying.", the strawhat tried to convince him.

"Fine, I'll join you if you get back my swords. I'm sure the are in Helmeppo's room.", the green-haired spoke, sighing in defeat.

"Yosh, it's a deal then!", Luffy said, while stretching his arms towards the base tower. "Gomu Gomu no Rocket!"

"If you wonder how I did that, I ate the Gomu Gomu no mi, I'm a rubber man!", he shouted, flying towards the tower roof.

Quickly approaching, he saw Captain Morgan's statue being set up. 'I remember I had fun destroying this statue the first time, I should do this again!'

Flying through the air like a rocket, Luffy decapitated Morgan's statue, much to the Marine's horror. "Hey Morgan, your statue sucks!"

'Axe-hand' Morgan's blood was boiling now. "Kill him, men! Don't ever let him see the light of the sun again!"

Luffy managed to defeat dozens of Marine soldiers without breaking a single sweat. "Where is Helmeppo's room?", he asked a soldier who he picked up and grabbed by the collar.

"Down the stairs, on the left", the Marine said before passing out.

The strawhat ran to said room and took Zoro's swords. He then left the tower, not looking for the map, knowing it's not there. When he was about to give Zoro his swords back, he was "greeted" by Captain Morgan and his soldiers. Helmeppo also came by.

"How dare you try to free Roronoa Zoro, I was going to have him executed in three days.", the blonde man spat.

"You're not executing anybody, egghead!", Luffy declared, insulting Helmeppo.

"Daddy, he insulted me, do something!"

"You've done enough, Strawhat! Men, open fire!"

The soldiers fired bullets at Luffy. Instead of dodging them, he let the bullets hit him, so he could repel them. Every Marine except Morgan was shocked. "H-how did he do that?"

"He ate a devil fruit.", the Marine Captain explained. "Devil fruits can make the user breath fire or cause tsunamis, it varies on the fruit."

"That's right, I ate the Gomu Gomu no mi. I can turn my body into rubber."

The Marines were slowly backing away from Luffy. Captain Morgan didn't like this at all. "Everyone who is scared of this brat, shoot yourself immediately!", he ordered.

Because the Marines were too scared of Morgan, they put their pistol ends on their heads, ready to shoot.

"What kind of Marine orders his own men to shoot themselves?", Luffy yelled, angry about the man's decision. "Gomu Gomu no Pistol!"

Luffy hit Captain Morgan with medium strength, hitting him hard, but still allowing him to stand up.

"Okay brat, this is it! DIE!", he furiously shouted, aiming his axe hand at the 17-year-old.

"Armament", Luffy mumbled. A part of his head turned black, but this wasn't visible due to his hair blocking the sight.

After the fearsome Marine hit the teen with his axe hand, he was shocked to see his best weapon break into pieces. So were his men, his son, Zoro and Coby. "How did he break the 'unbreakable' axe?!", some Marines exclaimed.

"This is where I finish you off, Morgan! Gomu Gomu no Bazooka!"

Luffy launched both of his fists with high speed into his opponent. The Ex-Captain flew high into the air, possibly landing somewhere in the sea, to be captured later. All spectators except Helmeppo cheered about the end of "Axe-Hand" Morgan's terror reign.

"This cannot be!", a traumatized Helmeppo let out, knowing the townspeople and even the Marines will want to have revenge for everything he had done. He couldn't hide behind his father's status anymore.

The blonde man wanted to get out of there as fast as possible, but a long, stretched arm and a hand with a grip harder than iron prevented him from doing so.

"Now listen close, if you don't do as I say, I'll make Zoro cut you in three pieces, understand?", the boy who defeated his father told him with a cold, dead glare.

"Excuse me!", a Marine soldier from behind began, getting Luffy's attention. "I'm Commander Ripper, base commander of 153rd Branch. We'd like to thank you for ending Captain Morgan's tyranny. What can I do for you?"

"There are two things you can do. First, this guy over there", he said, pointing to a shy Coby, still watching from behind the wall, "wants to become a Marine. Please allow him to join. Second, this guy over there", he said, pointing to a shivering Helmeppo, "needs to learn some manners. Make him join, so he can grow up and be more of a man than the crybaby daddy's boy he is now. That's all."

"We will gladly accept your requests.", Ripper answered.

Luffy now turned to Zoro, smiling. "Will you be my nakama after I free you?"

"Yes, but there is one thing.", the swordsman spoke. "My dream is to become the world's greatest swordsman. If you dare to be an obstacle to my dream, I will kill you."

"Shishishi! Don't worry!", Luffy said, laughing. He then cut Zoro's ties, freeing him.

"Where are we going now, Captain?", Zoro asked, accepting his new future.

"Where do you think? Getting you some food, you haven't eaten for 3 freaking weeks!"

And so, Luffy and Zoro left after saying goodbye to Coby and the Marines from 153rd Branch.

…

In Rika's mother's tavern, everyone was looking at Luffy and his first mate, who were eating plate after plate.

"So, where are you going now?", Rika's mother asked.

"Be bil comtinyu oa adbenchoa (We will continue our adventure).", Luffy answered, his mouth full.

Suddenly, Ripper and his fellow Marines came in. "We're in your debt for bringing down Captain Morgan, but you have to leave, you're pirates after all."

"We were going to leave anyway.", Luffy told, not caring the slightest.

Moments later, Rika's mother came with a big brown bag. "This is for you, there's food inside.", she said to Luffy and Zoro.

"Thanks! Watch after yourselves! Now come Zoro, we have to go."

"It's okay Luffy, I'm coming.", Zoro muttered, slightly annoyed.

…

On the docks of Shells Town, they met Nami.

"Who is this girl?", Zoro asked.

"That's Nami, my future navigator.", the strawhat answered. Once again, it was the truth, although this time's Nami didn't like the idea.

"I told you before, I will not become a pirate! And besides, where is the map?", she demanded.

"Unfortunately, the map you wanted wasn't there, but I am sure that you will find the map you desire in Orange Town.", Luffy explained.

"Good, then let's go there!", Nami ordered.

"Hey, since when are you the captain?", Zoro questioned.

"It's okay Zoro, unlike me, she knows how to get there.", Luffy spoke.

Nami blushed hearing this. Her blush was interrupted by Luffy's question.

"Hey Nami, when I get your map, will you tell me why you don't want to become a pirate?"

'Damn, this guy won't give up!'. She sighed. "Fine, I'll tell you."

"Shishishi! Super!"

* * *

 **Phew, that was a long chapter! Sorry for not updating yesterday, but I needed 2 days to write this. I really hope I'm getting better with writing. Constructive criticism allowed. Rate and review if you like.**


	4. C4: Orange Town, Red Nose

**Never again!**

 **Thank you for the reviews and feedbacks, it will help me with my writing. How did you like last chapter? Was it long and satisfying enough for you? If that's the case, I'm gonna please you even more, my readers!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Orange Town, Red Nose**

After a long trip, over one hour to be exact, the trio arrived in Orange Town. To them, the town seemed empty, which was almost true. After the Buggy Pirates took over the town, they drove all inhabitants away.

„Hey captain, what are we going to do with those clowns?", Zoro asked.

On their way to Orange town, the three were attacked by three pirates, who worked for Buggy the clown. Unluckily for them, they didn't know who Luffy and Zoro were, before said two beat them up. After the event, the injured pirates were forced to row.

„Let them guide us to their captain", Luffy answered, „He knows for sure where the map Nami wants is."

„Dam u orr, Hapt'n Bugi bil maek u pae! (Damn you all, Captain Buggy will make you pay!)", Tightrope Walking Funan Bro 3 cursed, his face swollen and purple.

„Yeah yeah, just bring us to your captain, I want his treasures and the map for the Grand Line!", Nami snarled.

„Wy do uo wont de map foa de Gwand Line, uo ar to weak enibeh. (Why do want the map for the Grand Line, you are too weak anyway.)", Tightrope Walking Funan Bro 2 asked, just as beaten as Funan Bro 3.

„This is only the beginning, my crew isn't fini-", Luffy began, but Nami interrupted him. „Don't ask questions, just bring us to your goddamn captain!", she yelled, hitting the three Funan Bros with her fist.

„Wy did u it mee, I din sae enifin! (Why did you hit me, I didn't say anything!)", Tightrope Walking Funan Bro 1 spoke. As Nami raised her fist, he immediately shut up.

After some running and climbing, they reached Buggy the Clown. The clown certainly wasn't happy to see his men beaten up. „You dare to hurt my flashy crew? Don't you know I'm the mighty Buggy the Clown?", he roared.

The red-nosed man then sighted Luffy's hat. He knew it was linked to Shanks, who he cursed. „Your strawhat", Buggy remarked.

„Yes, my strawhat, I got it from Shanks as a kid, cool guy, I looked up to him.", Luffy said with a big smile.

„You know the Yonko Shanks?!", Zoro and Nami exclaimed, staring at Luffy in disbelief.

„I knew this strawhat was linked to that red-haired bastard Shanks!", the clown shouted.

„Shanks has told me about you.", Luffy began. „He said you were a funny idiot."

„Whaaat?! I'm gonna kill him!", he yelled, anger burning in his eyes.

„I doubt that, he's a Yonko, while you're not even on the Grand Line!", Luffy spoke, laughing.

„If you're underestimating my power, you're making a big mistake. Now look at this, after that, you won't be such a bigmouth anymore. Domingos, load the Buggy Ball!", Buggy shouted.

The Superhuman Domingos put a cannonball in a cannon. The 'Buggy Ball' was powerful enough to level a city block. One of them lighted the fuse. Shortly after the Buggy Ball got fired out, Luffy did a quick move to reflect the lethal weapon.

„Gomu Gomu no Fuusen!", Luffy called. The cannonball was fired back to Buggy's men, knocking out almost all of them. The black-haired boy then returned to his normal form. He had a serious look on his face. „Buggy, I can't let you destroy this town!"

„Wait, you have devil fruit powers?", Buggy exclaimed, surprised by the teen inflating like a balloon.

„Yes, I ate the Gomu Gomu no mi, I'm a rubber man. With this power, I'll kick your ass into the Calm Belt!"

Zoro and Nami were speechless at Luffy's courage and self-confidence. Especially Nami, whose eyes widened after seeing the 17-year-old's astonishing powers.

„So you choose to fight me! But I warn you, I also have devil fruit powers. I ate the Bara Bara no mi, I can split my body and am completely immune to swords. Speaking of swords, Cabaji, bring me their heads! You too, Mohji!", Buggy yelled, summoning his best fighters.

Mohji is a primitive looking middle-aged man. His hair has ears of a teddy-bear and his chest is covered in fur, while everything below is shaved. He has a pet-lion called Richie who is big, has green fur and a purple mane. Richie is the beast and Mohji the tamer.

Cabaji is a young man with a strange hairstyle. He has a long, blue and white checkered scarf. He is a swordsman who rides a unicycle.

„Cabaji, you take care of the swordsman, Mohji, your job is easy, you only fight the girl. And I'm gonna tear this strawhat brat apart!", Buggy ordered.

Cabaji attacked Zoro. „So you're Roronoa Zoro, the supposedly best swordsman of the East Blue. You don't look like much to me!", Cabaji mocked Zoro.

„Likewise, shitty acrobat!", Zoro taunted Cabaji. Tick marks appeared on the latter.

„Shitty acrobat? Will you say this after I slice you up like a lemon? Kyokugi! Yukemuri Satsujin Jiken!", Cabaji shouted, disappearing in a cloud of dust.

„Where are you?", Zoro asked, readying his swords.

„Careful Zoro, he's planning a sneak attack!", Luffy told, knowing every attack of his past enemies.

„Sneak attacks, huh? Let's see how he likes this! Santoryu: Oni Giri!"

The dust got blown away. Zoro's and Cabaji's blades collided. Cabaji was angry, because his attack didn't work, thanks to a captain warning his nakama.

„You got lucky this time Roronoa, but can you dodge this? Kyokugi! Kaji Oyaji!"

Cabaji spat fire. Zoro put his hands in front of his face and screamed in pain. „AAAAAARGH!"

„Zoro!", Luffy yelled. Now that Zoro was incapable of fighting, he was an easy target for Cabaji. 'I have to rescue him', he thought.

„Oi, unicycle! You're going to pay for what you did to Zoro! Gomu Gomu no Bazooka!"

Luffy stretched his arms back while running towards Cabaji and then hit him with full force, launching him in a building, critically injuring him.

„Why'd you do that, you flashy bastard, your battle is with me!", Buggy shouted, enraged about being ignored by Luffy.

„You're not worth the energy.", Luffy answered, not caring about Buggy.

Buggy was on the verge of going completely mad. „What did you say?!"

„I said you're not worth fighting. I need to go check on Nami, perhabs she's in trouble."

„Ah, you mean your girlfriend. Richie is probably swallowing her!", Buggy sneered. „But I can't let you get away. You hurt my men and dared to oppose me. Therefor, I shall flashily punish you."

But Luffy didn't care at all. He just ran to find Nami. Leaving her alone with Richie was a mistake. After two minutes of running, he found Nami in front of a pet shop, blood coming out of her left arm. Her arm was bitten by Richie. Beside her, there were a dog and some people.

„Are you the people of this town?", Luffy asked.

The people nodded. One man spoke up. „I am Mayor Boodle. It seems you're fighting with Buggy the Clown, who are you?"

„I'm Monkey D. Luffy, captain of the Straw Hat Pirates.", the teen answered.

„Another pirate?!", one of the people exclaimed.

„Go away, you're not welcome here!", another person yelled.

The townspeople were hateful, but Mayor Boodle stopped them. „He may be a pirate, but for now he's not an enemy, he's fighting Buggy, our real enemy."

„Fighting? Hahaha, then why is he here?", Mohji mocked Luffy, riding Richie. „He probably ran away from Buggy because he chickened out."

Luffy's eyes had a dark expression. He pointed at Nami's injured arm. „Did your lion do that?", the pirate captain quietly, yet gravely asked.

„Yes! She tried to defend herself with her staff, how pathetic! If she can't defend herself properly, that's what she gets!", he sneered, proud of what his pet did.

„Nobody attacks my friends and gets away with it! Gomu Gomu no Gatling!", Luffy screamed.

„Luffy…", Nami said, touched by Luffy's action for her.

Richie and Mohji were touched too, but in a different way. They were touched, well, pretty fast – and in a pain emitting way.

Seeing how their oppressor's first mate got beaten to pulp, the people of Orange Town started to feel a little positive for Luffy. But their prejudice, for him being a pirate, was still present.

Mayor Boodle was the first to express his gratitude. „Thank you very much, the people of Orange Town suffered greatly under Buggy. He forced us to leave our homes and live in the forest. Now we can finally return!"

„Not quite.", Luffy spoke, his eyes still shadowed.

„What do you mean?", the mayor asked, confused by the 17-year-old's words.

„I haven't defeated Buggy yet."

„Yes yes Strawhat, you haven't defeated me and you never will!", Buggy smirked from the top of the town's tallest building. Beside him, there was a cannon loaded with the infamous Buggy Balls.

„Buggy!", an older man snarled.

„I see you've sided with the Strawhat, people of Orange Town. But this doesn't matter, because all of you are weak like babies!", the clown shouted, laughing like a maniac. „Prepare for the final Buggy Ball! Gyahahahahaha!"

Buggy opened fire. Seemingly, he forgot about Luffy's ability of bouncing back cannonballs.

'Is he really that stupid? Did he forget I used this ability not long ago?', Luffy thought. 'Well, it's easier for me then!'

„Gomu Gomu no Fuusen!". The Buggy Ball bounced back, but Buggy escaped due to his bara bara powers.

„You damn brat! You're ruining my plans, just like Shanks!", Buggy angrily yelled.

„Do you want to know what's strange, Buggy?", Luffy began.

„What?", Buggy asked, seriously annoyed by the teenager.

„How could someone like you be in Roger's crew?"

Everyone except Luffy froze. Nobody expected a question like this.

„Whaaaaat?! Buggy was in the pirate king's crew?!", some people from the crowd exclaimed. „No wonder he's so dangerous!"

„Stop!", Buggy roared. „I'm dead if the Marines become aware of this!"

„No! You're gonna die by my hands for trying to kill the people here. And also for ordering your crew to kill my nakama and my friend! What if they actually died, Zoro and Nami are heavily injured!"

„Your sentimental bullshit is getting on my nerves! A pirate kills people, that's a known fact!", Buggy furiously yelled.

„No, not me.", Luffy spoke. „I don't kill people, especially not innocents. I shatter their dreams."

„Come shatter my dreams then!", Buggy shouted, charging towards Luffy.

„If you want it so bad, have it! Gomu Gomu no-"

„Bara Bara Ho!", Buggy interrupted. His fists with knives on them charged at Luffy, who easily dodged them.

„Bara Bara Festival!", Buggy tried again. Luffy was surrounded by dozens of different body parts. He wasn't able to hit all parts at the same exact time, so he turned to Nami. „Nami, do what you're best at!"

Nami understood what he meant, but she wasn't really pleasured with the task. „Don't you see I'm injured?"

„Buggy has a treasure of 10 Million Berry.", Luffy informed, convincing Nami.

While Buggy was distracted, the ginger secretly stole the clown's limb parts and tied them together. Luffy quickly looked over to her, seeing how much she helped him. He punched Buggy's head, to see his reaction.

Buggy reacted as he expected. He reassembled his body parts. To his surprise, only his hands, feet and torso came back.

„W-where did my other parts go?", he panicked, then looking over to a certain young girl. „You thief!"

„That's my job, thank you!", she mocked Buggy, while showing him her tongue.

„Your often talking about flashy things, right Buggy?", Luffy spoke to Buggy, getting his attention. „How about I give you a flashy flight? Gomu Gomu no Bazooka!"

And so, chibi Buggy flew off, cursing Luffy once more. „CURRRSSSE YOUUUUU STRAWHATTT!"

As the townspeople watched their enemy disappear, they cheered for Luffy. „We can finally return home!", most of them cheerfully exclaimed.

Luffy turned to Boodle. „Erm, could you do me some favors please?"

„You freed our town, we owe you in return. What do you want?", the mayor answered, free from all hate towards pirates.

„Could you please take care of my nakama and friend please? They need medical help.", Luffy asked.

„Yes, of course! The friends of our savior are also our friends."

„Good. I need to get some stuff, and while I'm absent, could you get me a big black cloth and some paint please?", he asked further.

„Whatever you want!"

„And when we set sail, could you be so kindly and give us lots of food, especially meat, to restock? I promise, this is the final thing I'm asking for.", he asked even further.

„If that's the final favor, we'll do it."

„Shishishi, thanks mayor!", Luffy said, running to Buggy's base to get his treasure and the map for the Grand Line.

…

When Zoro opened his eyes, he felt pain rushing through his body. He was covered in bandages. He turned around, a doctor was around.

„Oi doctor, what happened?", Zoro asked, looking at him.

„You've suffered severe burns on your face, and some less severe burns on your neck and upper chest.", the doctor explained.

„Will they leave scars?", he wanted to know.

„Luckily, they won't. Here!", the doctor answered, showing him a jar of face cream. „If you rub this on your face two times a day, your burns will heal four times faster."

„Thanks.", Zoro muttered with a sign of gratefulness in his voice.

Suddenly, Luffy came through the door. „Zoro, you're awake!"

„Captain!", Zoro spoke, slightly smirking. „Nice to see you! How did the battle go?"

„I sent him to the moon!", he proudly stated.

„What about the girl?", the green-haired asked.

„Nami? She's over there." he said, pointing at the other side of the room.

Zoro felt stupid. 'How did I not notice her when she is in the same room?'

Nami was silent. 'Should I trust him or not? He is not the smartest person I've met, but he's extremely strong. Maybe I should- No, maybe he can beat some humans and weaker fishmen, but NOT Arlong!', she thought, already liking the pirate as a good person.

Luffy walked towards Nami. „Nami, how are you?", he asked, genuinely caring about his future nakama.

„I'm fine.", she simply responded, thinking she could fool the young pirate.

But Luffy wasn't dumb – anymore. He knew when Nami was thinking about her feelings, and he knew when she was sad or unhappy. So he decided to slowly approach to that topic.

„You have a tattoo!", he exclaimed, acting like he was shocked or surprised.

Nami was caught off guard. She looked at her arm. It wasn't completely bandaged, her tattoo was clearly visible. 'Damn it! They haven't properly covered it!', she thought.

„That's so cool, tell me about it!", Luffy exclaimed, faking his attitude.

„I-uh… ten million Berry!", she demanded.

„It's on the boat.", Luffy said, changing his attitude to normal.

„O-okay. Erm, i-it's uh…"

„Does it have something to do with the fact that you don't want to become a pirate?", he asked, digging further into it.

„Yes…", Nami spoke, „Listen, it's nice of you that you're interested in me, want me as your navigator and want to help me, but some things are ment to be kept private!"

„Did something happen in your past?", Luffy tried to comfort her.

„Yes, and this is the exact reason why I hate pirates.", she explained.

„You are my friend, and I don't let anyone hurt my friends. Tell me who did this to you and I'll make him pay!", Luffy sternly promised.

„I already said it, it's nice that you want to help me, but you can't beat Arlong!", the orange-haired shouted.

„Arlong? Arlong the fishman?", Luffy asked, already knowing everything about Arlong.

„This wasn't supposed to come out.". Tears started to build up in her eyes.

„Don't worry, I'll beat him up!", Luffy declared, slamming his fist into his palm.

„He's a monster, you can't!", she roared, glaring at Luffy.

„Give me a chance, and I'll prove you I can beat him.", he spoke, warming her up.

„I wish you could beat him, I wish you could make him pay!", Nami cried.

„Be my nakama."

„What? At first you-", she exclaimed but Luffy interrupted him.

„My nakama make me stronger, if you join me, I'll become stronger.", Luffy explained. It was as simple as that.

„Oh Luffy, I'll become your navigator!", she whined into his shirt. „I trust you, please help me!"

„I will.", the future Pirate King promised, glaring at the sky.

…

The Straw Hats were ready to set sail. Luffy had one more thing to tell the people of Orange Town.

„Dear people of Orange Town, I made this flag a few hours ago. The jolly roger of the Straw Hat Pirates is drawn on it. Here's an advice: Make lots of copies of it and hang the copies on different places of this island. That would mean this island is under our protection."

The townspeople had different opinions on Luffy's idea. Some said, that would be good, since this kind of flag intimidates others. Others said, it would be bad if they lived under pirates' protection. But in the end, it was Mayor Boodle's choice.

„Mayor Boodle, what are you saying about this?", a citizen asked.

„I'm fine with this.", the mayor answered.

„But Mayor Boodle-", a concerned man protested, not believing what his mayor said.

„It doesn't matter if they're pirates or not, they have proven themselves to be good people. I believe this town will be safe under their protection.", the old man firmly said.

„We've got to go now! Bye bye!", Luffy shouted, already in his boat.

„Thank you for everything!", the people yelled, waving their hands while said boat floated off.

A few minutes later, only the silhouette of Orange Town was visible.

„Our next destination is Syrup Village, can you navigate us there, Nami?", Luffy asked. That was more of a rhetorical question, of course she could!

„Of course, navigating is my third best ability.", Nami said.

„Then let's go there!", Luffy joyfully exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air.

'Wait for us Usopp, we're coming!'

* * *

 **Phew, this chapter is even longer than the last one, I hope you liked it. I needed multiple hours to write this. I included some LuNa moments, although it wasn't planned, perhabs in the future there will be a LuNaRo pairing, who knows? Constructive criticism allowed. Rate and review if you like.**


	5. C5: Usopp the lying hero

**Never again!**

 **From now on, it's starting to get more interesting. Today I'll be writing on the Syrup Village Arc, so prepare for some action. And thanks for the reviews, I will continue with everything I've got. Sit back and enjoy the story!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Usopp the lying hero**

After one hour of sailing, talking and laughing, the Strawhats reached Syrup Village. They docked on the northern coast.

Previously, a boy Luffy's age ran from a horde of angry villagers. They were angry because he always lied to them. But as always, the long-nosed liar got away due to his immense running speed and durability. His hiding skills were impressive too.

Said boy and his three loyal followers then noticed the three young pirates coming out of their boat. Not only were those four liars, they were also cowards. So, their captain decided to try scaring the foreign pirates away.

"Hold on pirates, this is territory of the Usopp Pirates! I'm Captain Usopp and have 80 Million men, so better go back where you came from!", the inexperienced pirate lied. His followers waved six flags.

"80 Million? More like three!", Nami spoke, seeing through his obvious lie.

"They found out!", the three kids exclaimed, running away like rabbits.

"O-okay, 80 Million was an overstatement, but I'm still a mighty warrior of the sea, Captain Usopp!", he stated.

"So you're Usopp! That's good, I've finally met you!", Luffy loudly said.

"You've heard of me? I mean, of course you've heard of me, I'm Captain Usopp!", the boy lied – again.

"Your father Yasopp always told me about you.", Luffy told, sounding truthful.

"Wait, you know my father?", Usopp asked, his interest arosen.

"Yes, he was in my village when I was young, he used to tell me a lot about how great you are.", Luffy explained.

"If that's the case, how about I invite you to a meal?", he offered. "There you can tell me abou my father."

"Sounds great!", Luffy called, excited about the meal. "By the way, I'm Monkey D. Luffy, future king of the pirates."

…

In a small restaurant, the Usopp Pirates and the Strawhat Pirates talked about what they've done and Luffy told his future sniper about his father.

"… and that's how he left.", Luffy finished. Usopp had stars in his eyes, admiring the fact that his father is one of a yonko's best men.

"Now that's what I call an interesting childhood!", Zoro commented.

Nami didn't say anything. 'His childhood was a lot better than mine', she thought, remembering the bad things Arlong did to her and her family.

Usopp then looked at his pocket watch, realizing he's got to go. He stood up, put some money on the table and ran off. "I gotta go now, can't say where!", he loudly exclaimed, running at high speed.

His nakama, who came in a minute later, walked over to the Strawhats. They saw Zoro rubbing his stomach, so they assumed something weird.

"W-where is our captain?", one of them asked, scared of the Strawhats.

"Your captain", Zoro began, scaring the three even further, "was delicious!"

"AAAAAAH! THEY'RE CANNIBALS!", they screamed in a unison, running for their lives.

"Are they for real?!", Nami yelled, annoyed by their gullibility.

"Letsh ook fo' Yusop! (Let's look for Usopp!)", Luffy exclaimed with lots of meat in his mouth.

'Ugh, that glutton!', both Nami and Zoro thought, annoyed by their captain's bottomless pit.

…

On the other side of Syrup Village, there was a mansion where Kaya, Usopp's girlfriend lived. Usopp went there every day to cheer her up with his stories, because she was sick and her parents died a year ago. However, her butler Klahadore AKA Captain Kuro was against it, saying Usopp was "bad influence" for her.

This time, like many other times, Klahadore went to check the garden. He wasn't surprised to see Usopp there. "Miss Kaya, haven't I told you so many times to stay away from garbage?", he scolded, deliberately not addressing Usopp, due to him being disgusted by the lying boy.

"Klahadore, Usopp isn't garbage!", she scolded back, defending the boy she cares for.

"He is, he is the son of a pirate, a pirate! These criminals should all be thrown into prison, and never be allowed to get out again!", he shouted.

"Hey! At least my father is a proud man!", Usopp yelled, defending his father's pride.

"A pirate's pride isn't worth anything, they're all dirty-", he was about to say, until he was interrupted.

"AAAAAAH!", a bunch of people screamed, who came flying over the mansion's fence. They were Ninjin, Tamanegi, Piiman, Nami, Zoro, and Luffy.

"Oh no, even more unwanted intruders.", Klahadore muttered.

"Captain Usopp, you're alive!", Ninjin, Tamanegi and Piiman exclaimed, happy to see their captain.

"What? Of course I'm alive, who told you I was dead?", Usopp asked.

"I-I thought you were eaten!", Ninjin cried.

"Eaten by this scary man!", Piiman cried, pointing at Zoro.

"We thought we lost our captain!", Tamanegi added, almost crying.

"Ahem, I've had enough of all of you! You seven, leave now and leave this house and Miss Kaya alone!", the butler ordered.

Usopp wanted to punch him, but Luffy held him back. "Leave him Usopp, he's not worth it."

The captain of the Straw Hat Pirates decided it would be the best if they left. Despite Usopp's heavy protests, he took him with him and left Kaya's property. After leaving, Usopp wanted to yell at Luffy, but he told him other things.

"Why did you stop me from punching him? He insulted my father! And worse than that, he insulted my father's pride!", Usopp yelled, furious at Luffy.

"He's not worth it Usopp.", Luffy just said. "People like him aren't worth the energy and time you would waste on them."

"But-", the long nose began, but Luffy interrupted him.

"We can talk about this later, how about a walk to the cliffs to calm down?", he suggested.

"Yeah alright.", the sharpshooter mumbled.

…

After some minutes of walking and a few discussions, Usopp started to laugh again. He quickly forgot the event with the fake butler. But his happiness was short-lived. As they were on the cliffs, they looked down to see Captain Kuro and his first mate Jango. The two pirates were talking about their plan consisting of killing Kaya and the entire population of Syrup Village. After that they would rob all their belongings and escape.

Usopp felt rage building up inside of him. Luffy felt it too, but he didn't express it. To prevent Kuro and Jango from hearing them, Luffy put his hand in on Usopp's mouth, closing it effectively. Despite heavy protests from Usopp, Luffy held his friend's mouth shut until the two top Black Cat Pirates disappeared. Then Luffy took his hand off Usopp's mouth.

"WHY DID YOU PUT YOUR HAND ON MY MOUTH?", Usopp angrily asked, just as Luffy expected.

"What would you think would happen if they heard us?", Luffy asked back.

Usopp was calm. "I guess you're right, but I've got to warn my people, they're in danger, especially Kaya!", the sniper spoke.

"Don't bother.", Luffy began. "They wouldn't listen to you, since you're known as the liar of the village… WAIT, THAT'S IT!"

"What is it, Luffy?", Usopp curiously asked.

"Run through your village and yell 'Pirates aren't coming tomorrow at sunrise from the northern coast!'. Since they are not going to believe you, they will prepare themselves.", The 17-year-old said.

"Yes, you're right, I will just use my lies! Thanks for this idea Luffy, you're a genius!", Usopp exclaimed.

"Yosh, go to your village now, and I'll go tell my nakama.", Luffy spoke, running off.

…

"PIRATES AREN'T COMING TOMORROW AT SUNRISE FROM THE NORTHERN COAST, PIRATES AREN'T COMING TOMORROW AT SUNRISE FROM THE NORTHERN COAST!", Usopp yelled, running through the village.

"What bullshit is this rascal talking again?", a villager angrily asked to his neighbor.

"He's saying that pirates aren't coming tomorrow at sunrise from the northern coast, but that's surely a lie.", the neighbor answered.

"But if that's a lie… Oh no, quick! Tell everyone to arm themselves and be at the northern coast at sunrise!", the villager shouted, fearing for his village.

Luffy already told his nakama about all this and observed the situation from a hill above. 'Oh Usopp, you're the best liar I've ever seen!', he thought.

…

The next day was pretty calm. Everything was silent, nobody was to see. Captain Kuro marched down the road down to the northern coast. From the furthest depth of the horizon, a pirate ship approached it was the ship of the Black Cat Pirates. After some time, the ship landed. First mate Jango came out of the ship to meet his captain.

"Is everything going as planned?", Jango asked.

"Yes, they didn't realize anything. Now call all men, we're ready to attack!", Kuro ordered.

The villagers who watched from the woods stared at Kuro in disbelief. All this time they haven't suspected 'Klahadore' of being Captain Kuro.

As the Black Cat Pirates started running up the road that leads to the village, the inhabitants of Syrup Village blocked their way.

"We have seen everything, _Captain Kuro_!", a villager snarled, spitting the last two words out like they were venom. "We might not be as strong as your crew, but we will defend our village to the last man!"

"Hahahaha!", Kuro laughed. "Defending your village? What a futile attempt! But since you've discovered my true identity, I will have to kill every single one of you insects in cold blood."

"You won't lay a single finger on them!", a male teenage voice yelled from the shadows.

"Who is there? Show yourselves immediately!", Kuro angrily ordered.

Seven people came out of the shadows. They were the Usopp Pirates and Straw Hat Pirates, their captains leading their nakama respectively.

"Ah, it's just you brats! Just thinking alone of being somehow able to defeat us is an insult for me, this especially applies to the Usopp Pirates!", Kuro spat.

"Don't you ever make fun of me again! I might not have 80 Million men or been to the sea once, but I am a proud warrior who will save his village and defeat you once and for all!", Usopp declared.

The inhabitants of Syrup Village didn't think much of the village's liar before, but this time, they were truly impressed by his courage and love for his home.

"Don't make me laugh! You're nothing but filthy garbage, just like I told you yesterday at Kaya's mansion.", the 16 Million Berry man snarled.

"The only garbage here is you, Klahadore."

The voice came from a blonde girl Usopp's age, who came walking down the road in a big coat. Kaya.

"Well well, if it isn't my main target!", Kuro laughed. "Tell me, what did you see when you stepped in the living room?"

"My loyal servant Merry covered in blood, thanks to you, _Captain Kuro_.", she coldly said, pulling out a flintlock, shocking everybody.

"Now now, take that down Miss Kaya, weapons are not toys.", he mocked her.

"Did you kill my parents?", she asked in a rather loud tone, but hiding her anger.

"As much as I wanted to kill you, your parents really died due to sickness.", Kuro explained.

"Why did you want to kill me, Kuro?", she asked, tears coming out of her eyes.

"Do you remember the beautiful memories we shared, Miss Kaya? Remember when we went shopping, ate the cakes you made, and sang together? They were beautiful memories – to you. To me however, all of it was an ordeal. Three years ago, I came here to give up my life as a pirate. I've had enough of being chased by the Marines. At first I made Jango hypnotize a crew member of mine to believe he's me, Captain Kuro. Luckily, he was looking similar enough, so that the stupid Marines actually believed he was me. When a Marine ship attacked us AGAIN, I killed everyone on board except one, former Lieutenant Commander Morgan. I ordered Jango to make him believe he captured me. So he brought my lookalike, Nugire Yainu, back to 153rd Branch. After Yainu was executed under the name of Captain Kuro, Morgan was promoted to Captain. To really make people believe I am dead, I came here to live a new life, as butler of your family, Miss Kaya. Now I ask you something: Can you imagine the painful humiliation a pirate captain who was once worth 16 Million Berry had to suffer after becoming a servant of a spoiled little girl? To recompensate my suffering, I have to kill you and gain your inheritance.", Kuro coldly answered.

Everybody looked at Kuro as if he was a monster. Kaya just dropped the weapon and sank to her knees. It was almost impossible for her to digest the hurtful words that came out of this monster's mouth. Usopp, seeing how he hurt his precious girlfriend, couldn't control his feelings either. He lashed at Kuro with his fist at full force, giving his cheek a red mark.

"How dare you do this to Kaya, you monster!", he yelled at Kuro.

Kuro, already angry, finally lost control. "You insolent little rat! You're gonna pay for laying your filthy hand on my face. I sentence you to death."

Usopp was shaking in fear. Kuro was getting out his claws, which were beyond deadly. After attaching his claws, Kuro prepared to slash Usopp's face, but Luffy anticipated.

"Gomu Gomu no Pistol!", Luffy exclaimed, hitting Kuro with his arm stretched forward.

"Ah, a devil fruit user!", Kuro called. "Time to attack, men! Kill everybody who's in your way!"

The Black Cat Pirates attacked. The normal pirates fought with the villagers and easily overpowered them. Nami helped the villagers and knocked some normal pirates out. Zoro fought with the Nyaban brothers, but easily defeated them due to his new 'Tora Gari' technique. Usopp and his nakama ran away protecting Kaya. And Luffy fought with Kuro himself.

"I will not let you thwart my plan! Nuki Ashi!", Kuro shouted.

'To others he may seem extremely fast, but in my eyes he's moving like a snail.', Luffy thought. He then dodged him.

"You're fast, but not as fast as me! Creeping Cat!", the former butler shouted, determined to take the strawhat down..

Luffy dodged him again and again, due to the fact that his techniques are slower than CP9's Soru.

"If sheer speed alone can't defeat you, I'll use my deadly claws! Shakushi!", Kuro yelled.

His technique was the same as before, only with claws. Luffy easily grabbed his hands and crashed his claws deep in a rock. The 17-year-old then stomped his hands on the ground, breaking the claws.

"No! My claws!", Kuro yelled in anger.

Luffy then jumped high in the air to execute his final attack. "Gomu Gomu no Stamp Gatling!"

Feet came down in Kuro's face like rain. It felt like one thousand anvils hitting him. Captain Kuro then went down as the loser, much to each spectator's shock.

After coming down from the air, the Strawhat glared at the remaining conscious Black Cat Pirates. He then spoke to Jango. "Gather together your damn crew including your captain, then leave this island and never come back! Once you've done that, go to the closest Marine base and hand them over your captain. Tell them I was the one who defeated him. My name is Monkey D. Luffy, and if you refuse to comply my orders, I'll make you sorry, understand?"

Jango was terrified to the core by that teenager. "U-understand, Strawhat, please don't kill me!", he screamed, running away like a coward.

The villagers started cheering for Luffy. "You saved our village!", they cheerfully exclaimed.

Kaya however, cheered for Usopp instead of Luffy. "You're my hero, Usopp!", she spoke, making the lying sniper blush.

Nami and Zoro just watched the scene. 'What a strong captain we have!', they thought, somewhat happy to be Luffy's nakama.

"Now everyone.", Luffy began. "If you make copies of this flag,", Luffy explained, showing the people of Syrup Village the jolly roger of the Straw Hat Pirates, "it would mean that this village is under our protection."

Some citizens disagreed. "But you're a pirate, and we just got attacked by pirates!", one of them spoke.

"Listen, there are good pirates and bad Marines. We, the Straw Hat Pirates, are some of those good pirates, who want to tell the world that not all pirates are bad. So please accept this gift, it won't cost you a single Berry.", Luffy explained.

"If you're telling the truth, we are gladly accepting your offer!", a villager said, others agreeing with him.

"Let's have a banquet for our saviours!", a man loudly suggested.

"Oh yeah, that sounds great!", Luffy exclaimed, excited about all the meat he's going to eat.

…

Later that day, the Usopp Pirates and Straw Hat Pirates visited Kaya who had invited them. She wanted to give them a special present for what they've done. Merry was with her. He was there to show them the present.

"This is the 'Going Merry'!", he spoke, showing the friendly pirates a real ship.

"WOW!", both Luffy and Usopp exclaimed with stars in their eyes.

Nami and Zoro were impressed too, but they decided to keep it silent.

"I have designed it and am proud of it, although it's not the greatest ship.", he further explained. "Miss Kaya is giving you this as a present. There's also some food inside, so that you have something to eat while overseas."

Luffy then turned to Kaya. "Thank you very much, it's so great!"

"My pleasure.", she said after shyly giggling.

The Straw Hat Pirates got on their new ship to admire it and then set sail. Their captain walked over to the rear side of the ship. "Oi Usopp!", he exclaimed. "Come with us!"

"Whaat?! You want me to come with you?", he asked, staring at Luffy in (positive) disbelief.

"It's not a request, it's an order! From now on you're the sniper of the Straw Hats.", his new captain answered.

"But I can't leave, Kaya is-", he began, but was interrupted by the girl he mentioned. "Usopp, I will stay to become a doctor, once I'm healed, I will be able to look after myself. And you can become the brave warrior of the sea you always wanted to be."

"O-okay!", he shouted, running to his house to get his stuff. One day he promised Kaya to become a brave warrior of the sea, and he didn't want to break his promise.

…

A few minutes later, Usopp came back with his stuff. His own Nakama were unhappy due to their captain leaving.

"Captain Usopp, I know we can't stop you, so please become a brave warrior of the sea!", Tamanegi cried out, tears flowing down his eyes.

"Captain!", Piiman and Ninjin cried.

"Usopp Pirates, from now on *sob* this crew will be disbanded, so always look after yourselves!", the fourth member of the Straw Hat Pirates shouted, crying.

"Ready to set sail!", Nami exclaimed, addressing Luffy.

"Leeet's goo!", Luffy cheerfully exclaimed.

Zoro was just smirking and Usopp still had tears in his eyes.

While slowly sailing away, the four pirates waved their hands at their five friends standing on newly claimed Straw Hat Territory.

* * *

 **Oh man, this chapter was even longer than the one before! But then again, this is the entire Syrup Village Arc in one chapter. So what do you think of the Straw Hats claiming territories? Leave it in the comments! Also, Nami and Zoro sometimes have the same thoughts and act the same, eventual ZoNa maybe? Leave it in the comments! Constructive criticism allowed. Rate and review if you like.**


	6. C6: Don Krieg losing the Krieg

**Never again!**

 **Thanks for your reviews guys! So apparently, you are against the idea of claiming islands because the Straw Hats aren't known enough. I understand you, but could you make an exception on Cocoyasi Village please? That arc will happen next chapter, this chapter's arc will be the Baratie arc. For now, sit back and enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Don Krieg losing the Krieg**

On the Merry, Luffy and Usopp practised shooting cannonballs. Far away, Luffy discovered a rock in the sea. "Hey Usopp, can you hit the rock?", Luffy challenged him.

"Of course, one of the easiest tasks you'll give me, Captain Luffy!", the sniper proudly claimed.

"Shishishi, prove me then!", Luffy spoke.

Usopp moved the cannon. He carefully aimed at the rock. After the cannon shot the exploding ball, nothing was left of the grey rock.

"Bull's-eye!", both Usopp and Luffy exclaimed, dancing around the cannon. Nami and Zoro just looked at the two.

Suddenly, a tanned black-haired man entered the ship, carrying another man. The concious man was wearing black sunglasses and had a kanji tattoo on his left cheek. Over his purple t-shirt he wore a thin blue jacket. The unconscious man was less tanned. On his head he wore a red mask-headband-like thing, and over his black t-shirt and yellow shorts he wore a long green coat. Both had swords with them.

"WHY DID YOU KILL YOSAKU?", the tanned man shouted, doing some damage to Merry by hitting her with his sword.

"Hey, stop hitting Merry!", Usopp and Luffy shouted back, planning to punch the intruder.

"Oi Johnny, what are you doing here, and what happened to Yosaku?", Zoro asked the swordsman.

"Zoro-aniki! Yosaku and I were resting on a rock, until somebody shot at us. Yosaku was already sick from eating rotten fruit, but the cannonball probably killed him. Oh Yosaku!", the man known as Yosaku explained, crying about his friend's 'death'.

Nami inspected the other man called Yosaku and found out something. "He's not dead, he's just very ill.", she spoke.

"Oh man, Yosaku's gonna die!", Johnny exclaimed, running around in circles with his hands on his head.

"Chill out, he's not gonna die!", Nami shouted, annoyed by Johnny overreacting. "Right now, he's only missing a good amount of Vitamin C. Luffy, Usopp, press some lime juice in his mouth!"

Luffy and Usopp came back a few seconds later with the limes. They pressed out 50 of them in Yosaku's mouth. Nobody expected Yosaku to wake up healthy after the two finished pressing out the limes.

After that, Yosaku ran to Johnny, dancing hand to hand to him, singing some crazy stuff.

"That's not how it works, you can't get healthy immediately!", Nami yelled with sharp teeth, showing her typical menacing side.

"So,", Luffy began, "who are you and what are you doing here?"

Johnny and Yosaku got serious again. "I'm Johnny", "and I'm Yosaku", they said seperately. "We're bounty hunters looking for pirates.", Yosaku explained.

His friend then turned to Zoro. "Zoro-aniki, what are you doing on a pirate ship, did you get kidnapped?"

"Nah, my captain Luffy here", he pointed at the 17-year-old, "saved my life, so I joined him in return."

"That's nice to hear.", Yosaku spoke. "If you're Zoro-aniki's captain, then we won't harm you.", Johnny promised.

"Zoro, how long do you know these guys?", Nami curiously asked.

"I've known them since I became a bounty hunter.", Zoro answered. "They're good friends."

Their friendly talk was interrupted by a Marine ship approaching. The superior of the ship, Lieutenant Fullbody, leaned over the railing of the vessel, looking at the pirates and the bounty hunter pair. "Who's the captain of that ship", the pink-haired man in a suit asked.

"It's me,", Luffy answered, "Monkey D. Luffy, captain of the Straw Hat Pirates."

"Your ship is an eyesore. Sink them!", Fullbody ordered after badmouthing Merry.

A cannon from the Lieutenant's ship shot a cannonball at the Going Merry, but Luffy reflected the shot. "Gomu Gomu no Fuusen!"

The cannonball barely missed the ship, much to Fullbody's relief. "If you try that again, I'll sink you!", the pirate captain threatened.

Luffy only saved Fullbody's ship because the Marine's girlfriend was around. She was innocent after all.

After the conflict with Fullbody was settled, the Straw Hats and their new friends continued their way to the sea-restaurant 'Baratie'. They were hungry, so they wanted to eat something.

'Just wait Sanji, I'm going to make you my chef! Once you're a part of Merry and later Sunny, I will never have to worry about food.'

…

The Baratie was a literal sea-restaurant. The figurehead of the ship serving as a restaurant was a white fish with big orange lips. The interior looked average, but noble. The Straw Hat Pirates decided to sit at a big, free table along with the bounty hunter duo. Eventually, Sanji the blond cook in a black suit came along, asking for the orders. He then sighted Nami.

"Welcome to the Baratie my love, I am Sanji, sous chef. May I know what your name is, beautiful?", he spoke like a gentleman.

"My name is Nami.", she answered.

"So what can I get for you, milady?", the chef continued.

"A slice of the best cake, and I'd appreciate if I didn't have to pay.", the money-loving girl said.

"OF COURSE MY BEAUTIFUL, IT'S ON ME!", Sanji raved with hearts in his eyes, displaying his goofy, by women manipulable side.

The ero-cook then gained self-control and turned to the male customers. "What do you baboons want?"

Although the males, especially Zoro, were pissed at the lady lover for his rude remark, they all ordered something to eat. And when it was Luffy's turn, he yelled: "MEAT! GIVE ME LOTS OF MEAT!". Sanji's reaction was just clenching his teeth. Nonetheless, he took the order.

...

While everybody on Luffy's table ate, Sanji went off to serve Fullbody and his girlfriend. After love-chatting with the Marine Lieutenant's girlfriend and humiliating him in front of at least fifty other guests, Fullbody decided to pay him back. He killed a bug by stepping on it and secretely dropped it into the soup he was eating. As Sanji continued his work by leaving for another table, Fullbody called him back.

"Hey waiter!", he shouted at Sanji, pointing at his plate. "What is that bug doing in my soup?"

"I've told you before, I'm a cook, not a waiter!", Sanji answered back in an annoyed tone.

"Don't try to distract from the issue, there's a bug in my soup, and if you're the cook, then I will hold you responsible!", the arrogant Marine ranted.

"A bug?", the young cook asked, not knowing how it got there.

"Yeah, what is this? Don't tell me it's not a bug!", the choleric man shouted.

"I don't know, I'm not that familiar with insects."

The audience cheered at Sanji, who walked away like a boss, and laughed at Fullbody, who was humiliated once again. The Marine was fuming. He slowly recollected his mind and grabbed his plate to throw it down, spilling the soup and drawing attention to himself in the process.

"Listen to me you shitty cook! I'm 'Ironfist Fullbody', Marine Lieutenant. I will not allow you to humiliate me once again. I am the customer, and the customer has money. You are serving me right now so treat your superior with some fucking respect you worthless douchebag!", he screamed in uncontrollable rage.

Sanji's eyes darkened. He slowly turned around, walking towards Fullbody in a menacing way. The people in the crowd were silent, knowing what mistake the Marine has made. Angering Sanji was a deadly mistake, which most customers knew. In front of Fullbody, the rather calm cook kneeled down to collect broken pieces of the plate. The pink-haired signed his death warrant by stepping on Sanji's hand to prove his 'superiority'.

"Can money fill your stomach?", the blond quietly asked with a dangerous tone.

Fullbody just looked at him with confused eyes.

"I said…", Sanji asked again before unleashing his wrath, "can money fill your stomach?"

Luffy watched how his future cook kicked the shit out of that weak Marine. Easier frightened people like Nami or Usopp flinched or even covered their eyes. When Sanji was finally done, he grabbed him by the neck of his suit, covered in blood just like the person wearing it, and told him: "Messing with a cook of the sea is a good way to get yourself killed, shitty Marine!"

Two seconds later, the owner of the restaurant, an old man called Zeff stormed in from the kitchen. The oddest thing about him was not his braided mustache, but his peg leg on his right leg.

"Fighting with a customer again, Sanji?", he yelled, speeding towards Sanji and Fullbody.

'Finally, the owner!', Fullbody thought in relief.

But he was going to be disappointed. Zeff kicked him with his peg leg, sending him flying low on the ground towards the restaurant's exit. "You're another troublemaker! Get lost, brat!", he shouted with an unfriendly expression on his face.

"Even the owner! Not even the owner respects his customer! This demented place with its equally demented employees is getting on my nerves! I swear, I'll get this insane place closed down!", the angry Marine roared.

"Sir, Lieutenant Fullbody!", a Marine soldier who came running from outside, interrupted the dispute between the Baratie chefs and the Lieutenant. After stopping, he panted and sweat. "The prisoner has escaped!"

Immediately after that, a gunshot was heard. The soldier who was shot from behind from a tanned man with dirty clothes who looks like he hasn't slept or eaten for 3 days, fell over dead.

"This is a restaurant, isn't it?", the criminal spat. "Bring me some damn food!"

"Oi, a customer!", a dark-skinned cook named Patty cheerfully exclaimed. Everyone else watched silently.

Meanwhile, Fullbody quietly crawled out of the restaurant, since the attention was no longer on him.

As the armed escapee approached, Patty built himself up in front of him. "Welcome to the Baratie, customer! Do you have money with you?"

"I don't have money, but do you take bullets?", he threatened, pulling out his pistol.

Patty reacted by rapidly removing the pistol from the pawns of the dangerous individual. Then he smashed the thug's head multiple times into the floor, making him bleed. Following that, Patty gained cheers from most cooks and most customers.

After getting wounded and nothing to eat, the criminal silently went outside. On the other hand, Sanji went to the kitchen. After coming out with a plate full of spaghetti, Sanji went outside too. Luffy decided to follow Sanji.

Outside, Luffy and his future nakama found the man, who was beaten up not long ago, lying on the ground. Not being able to see a starving man on the sea, the generous cook decided to give him the plate full of spaghetti.

"I don't want this. I don't want to be pitied by you.", he spoke, refusing the meal Sanji has cooked.

"I'm not pitying you, don't think that of me. However, I cannot see a starving man on the sea. That's the only reason I gave you this.", Sanji calmly answered.

After some thinking, the murderer decided to accept the meal. "T-thank you. I'm Gin, what's your name, good man?", he asked.

"My name is Sanji."

Finishing the conversation, Sanji turned around and leaned over the railing of the Baratie. He pulled out a cigarette out of his pocket an lit it up.

Luffy also leaned over the railing. "Hey, do you want to be my nakama?", the teenager asked.

"No. I have no reason to become a pirate.", the blond responded after exhaling.

"You can cook, fight, and I like you. Why don't you join me and become my cook?"

"Because I have my reasons to stay here, Strawhat.", Sanji responded, slowly getting annoyed by Luffy's offer.

"If you don't want to join now, I'll ask later. See you!", Luffy spoke, grinning. The strawhat then ran off.

"I've already told you, I- ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?!", Sanji exclaimed with sharp teeth.

Meanwhile, Gin left the ship after finishing his meal. He thanked Sanji of course.

…

Back inside, the Straw Hats were getting bored, same with Johnny and Yosaku. When Luffy came back, Zoro spoke up. "Oi Luffy, when are we going to leave?"

"When Sanji joins us.", his captain answered. Zoro himself and his other nakama didn't like this answer.

"But Luffy, what if he doesn't want to?", Nami questioned. She didn't want to spend too much time on the Baratie.

"Then I'll ask him until he gives in.", he said, smiling. The others knew this was a bad idea.

Suddenly, many customers started leaving the Baratie. "Pirates, PIRATES!", they screamed.

Outside of the Baratie, the ship of the notorious pirate Don Krieg appeared, along with his crew. Krieg was known and hated for his dirty tricks in battle, like faking surrender and then attacking the enemies off-guard. For that reason he is called "Foul Play Krieg".

To everyone's surprise, Krieg didn't start attacking. Instead, he walked inside the Baratie and begged for something to eat for him and his men. And it turns out that Gin is his right-hand-man.

Patty didn't believe Krieg. "This is a one-in-a-million chance to capture Don Krieg and hand him over to the Marines. Scum like this shouldn't be allowed to roam around freely!", he said, clenching his fists.

"Patty, you know me. No matter who it is, I would never let anyone starve on the sea.", Zeff told him. He then turned to Krieg. "Krieg, you're getting the food you demanded, but after that you get the hell out of here!"

"It's a promise.", Krieg lied.

But nobody believed him. Everyone knew he was going to break the promise and try something dirty. Yet nobody dared to oppose the tall man covered in golden armor. Except Luffy.

"I wouldn't do that.", the boy spoke to Zeff. "After he gets the food, he'll attack you and try to claim the ship for his own."

"Clever boy!", Krieg commented, smirking deviously. "Yes, it's true. After I finish my meal, I'm going to claim this ship as my new flagship. When I first sailed to the Grand Line, I had 50 ships and 5000 men under me. But due to the lack of information and that damn bastard Mihawk, I only have 100 men left. Once I take the ship, I'll also take your log book, 'Red-Leg' Zeff. After I obtain the ship and the log book, I'm going to set up a new fleet, then nothing will stop me from becoming king of the pirates!"

"You're wrong!", Luffy corrected him. "I, Monkey D. Luffy, will become king of the pirates, not you!"

Don Krieg was a cruel and brutal man. He absolutely abhors people who don't acknowledge him as the future king of the pirates. Rumors say he has killed everybody who dared to tell him that. "Is that kid crazy?", a voice from the crowd shouted.

"Who do you think you are, you brat? Don't you know that I'm the strongest man in the world?", Krieg angrily yelled at Luffy.

Despite the 17-year-old supposedly putting his life in great danger, his nakama fully supported him. After seeing his previous battles, his nakama believed he'd win. Others, like the customers or the cooks, didn't think he'd win, but at the very least, they respected his unbelieveable courage.

"Strongest man my ass, that title belongs to Whitebeard.", Luffy boldly stated.

Don Krieg was angry, very angry. Although it may not seem like it, he's at least as intelligent. For this reason, he left Luffy alone for now and attacked the Baratie chefs instead. "Men, kill everyone on board!", he ordered.

Gin didn't know what to say. Back when he finished the meal Sanji cooked for him, he returned to Don Krieg's ship, telling him there's a swimming restaurant. Krieg didn't hesitate and went there to claim it for himself. Due to Gin's gratitude towards Sanji, Krieg promised him not to kill anybody on board. This turned out to be a lie.

"But captain, I thought you promised me not to kill anybody! And besides, they made you food!", Gin exclaimed.

"Lying is my strategy Gin, you're my right-hand-man, you should know.", Krieg ruthlessly told him.

The Krieg Pirates started attacking. People, furniture, plants; everything was their target, but they made a mistake: underestimating the fighting chefs of the Baratie.

"Party Table Kick Course!", Sanji shouted, knocking out over ten pirates with one attack.

"Ryoricho Gisoku Kick!", Jeff shouted, defeating at least as many Krieg Pirates.

Patty and the other cooks also effortlessly defeated the enemy pirates. To top that off, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Johnny and Yosaku also jumped in to help the Baratie.

Krieg was not happy to see his men getting bested one by one. He called his best men, Gin and Pearl, commanders of his first and second division. "Pearl, you know what's up, show them you're unbeatable. And you, Gin, I want you to kill that curly-eyebrowed cook you wanted me to spare."

"But-", Gin began, but was cut off by his captain Don Krieg.

"You aren't going to betray me, are you? Prove me your loyalty and finish him!", the evil captain ordered.

Gin gave in. "Sorry Sanji, but I have to do this!", he said, not happy about the task he was given.

"You don't have to do anything.", Luffy spoke, his words stopping Gin from running at Sanji. "The man you call captain is a dishonest weakling. He makes you do bad things you don't want to. Let me prove you how weak he is by defeating him with one punch."

The strawhat was glared at by everyone. 'He just signed his death warrant', some people in the crowd thought. Nobody expected such words against the East Blue's most dangerous pirate. However, the least expecting thing was Krieg's reaction. Instead of fuming from anger, the captain of the Krieg Pirates just laughed at Luffy.

"Hahahaha! HAHAHAHA! You talk big words, kid, perhabs Pearl should teach you how to talk to your superiors.", he spoke.

"That's right!", a man wearing multiple iron shields with pearls on them said. "I'm 'Pearl the Iron Wall'. I haven't suffered a single injury in every battle I fought. If you want to mess with Don, you have to go through me first. But you can't, my armor is unbreakable. Hahahahahaha!"

"Unbreakable? We'll see about that!", Luffy called.

"So you're challenging me? I haven't lost a single battle in my entire life.", Pearl told.

"Then prepare to lose for the first time! Armament!", the black-haired boy exclaimed, his right arm turning black, thus gaining stares from everyone who doesn't know what haki is - literally everyone. "Gomu gomu no pistol!"

The self-proclaimed strongest man in the world watched in disbelief as his most loyal subordinate was beaten by an underage boy. Pearl's shield shattered completely due to the fist's impact. The wielder of the shield was coughing blood after a devastating hit in the gut. After that, he was sent flying in the ocean.

Luffy's popularity and respect among the friendly people in the Baratie, including Gin, jumped high in the air. He had just defeated one of East Blue's strongest defensive pirates.

Don Krieg realized he underestimated the harmless looking boy with the straw hat. "It seems that I underestimated you, but I won't do the same mistake again. I'm going all in!", he declared.

"Fine by me, I'm going to win anyway.", was Luffy's answer.

"Don't be so sure about that, brat! Dangan!", he yelled, revealing 10 guns after opening parts of his armor.

He started shooting, 14 rounds per second. But that was too slow for Luffy, who could run at him not being hit once. Said boy did so, running at Krieg with his arms stretched back.

"Armament! Gomu Gomu no Bullet!", Luffy exclaimed, breaking Krieg's 'unbreakable' armor. Upon impact, the tall pirate flew through his already heavily damaged ship, wrecking it, before flying in the same direction as his second commander.

"Yosh, I did it!"

"Indeed you did.", a voice from Luffy's left said. Luffy turned to that voice and identified the person the voice belongs to, Dracule Mihawk.

Not only Luffy looked at the Shichibukai. He caught everyone's attention, especially Zoro's. 'No doubt, that's the strongest swordsman in the world. I have to challenge him!', Zoro thought.

"Tell me, what does a Shichibukai want in the East Blue?", Luffy asked.

"I came here to finish what I started.", Mihawk answered, surprised the young pirate he's talking to doesn't fear him.

"Finish what?", Luffy further asked.

"Annihilating Krieg's fleet, but you've already done it.", the Shichibukai explained.

"You aren't mad at me, are you?", the strawhat questioned.

"Actually, I'm impressed a no-name pirate in the East Blue is able to use haki.", the swordsman told him.

"Thanks, I guess.", the teen said.

Since Mihawk didn't have anything more to do, he decided to return to the Grand Line. But then a green-haired swordsman stopped him from leaving.

"You're Dracule Mihawk, the best swordsman in the world, right?"

"Yes, that's me, right here."

"Meeting you here is very fortunate for me, Shichibukai. I can't let you leave until you duel me.", Zoro told him.

"Please, you're putting your own life in danger, I've stopped duelling with amateurs long ago.", Mihawk said.

"I really don't want to brag, but I'm the best swordsman in the East Blue.", the green-haired stated.

"Out of all four Blues, the East Blue is the least powerful. However, you gave me a reason to duel you, finding out what the East Blue can offer me.", the Shichibukai spoke, unleashing a small dagger.

Zoro felt like he was made fun of. "Oi, are you kidding me? How are you supposed to duel me with this dagger?"

"This small blade is probably still sharper than your swords. I don't use my real sword, because I don't want to injure you too hard.", Mihawk explained.

"Whatever, are you ready?"

"I am."

"Okay.", Zoro began, getting out his three swords. "Santoryu: Oni Giri!"

The 19-year-old attacked Mihawk with great strength, but he simply blocked it, shocking East Blue's best and his old friends. Oni Giri wasn't stopped by anyone before.

Mihawk was amused and bored at the same time. "Is that it, the best East Blue can offer? I can see how you got your title, but that's nothing compared to Grand Line swordsmen."

Kuina's former rival almost snapped, thinking it was impossible that man was THIS MUCH stronger than him. But then, he remembered Luffy and that there _are_ stronger people than him in the world. "Ha, don't worry, that was my weakest attack. Santoryu: Tora Gari!", Zoro tried again, but his opponent blocked it too. Not only that, Shanks' former rival and old friend also stabbed him with his tiny dagger, staining the Shimotsuki Villager's T-Shirt red from all this blood.

"Zoro!", the Straw Hats yelled.

"Zoro-aniki!", Johnny and Yosaku cried.

Despite the huge wound, Zoro didn't back away a single bit. Mihawk became curious why he didn't do so.

"Tell me, why didn't you back away?"

"Scars on the back of a swordsman are a disgrace!"

"And that's the reason you're taking the hit?"

"Listen, I'm man enough to accept defeat, but one day, I will be the one who defeats you."

The Shichibukai was impressed by the man he practically defeated. His words were inspiring and he himself was a real man.

"What's your name?", he asked.

"Roronoa Zoro.", the green-haired answered.

"I will remember your name. You have impressed me enough to use my black blade. Prepare for a final clash, and do your best."

"Santoryu Ogi: Sanzen Sekai!", Zoro aggressively exclaimed, trying one more time.

*Unnamed attack of Mihawk*

At first it looked like the best swordsman of the East Blue won, but it turns out the best swordsman of the world easily countered the green-haired's strongest attack, ripping through Zoro's chest like it was a tomato.

"Train, train and become stronger. Your attacks aren't bad but you need to perfect them. There are many swordsmen in the Grand Line who are more experienced than you. You are young and have talent, don't let them go to waste.", Mihawk spoke, inspiring the future greatest swordsman.

"Don't worry, I will become stronger, for my captain! From now on, I'll never lose again.", Zoro promised, widely smirking despite small tears in his eyes.

"Fine. We'll see us in the Grand Line, Roronoa Zoro.", he finally said and disappeared like a flash.

"Nami, Usopp, go treat Zoro's wound!", Luffy immediately ordered after Mihawk was gone.

"And where are you going, Luffy?", Usopp asked.

"I'm going to see Sanji.", Luffy answered with a wide smile in his face.

…

On his balcony, Sanji was smoking again. 'What is with this kid, he's so careless, yet has amazing self-control.', he thought.

Moments later, Luffy walked inside his room. "Hey Sanji,", he asked, "what is your dream?"

"My dream? My dream is finding the All Blue.", Sanji answered, looking at the clouds in the far.

"The All Blue?"

"Yes, the All Blue. It's a sea where all fish from each Blue live."

"Awesome! My dream is becoming Pirate King. Now you're not only the best fighting cook in the world, you also have a dream! Come with me, together with my nakama, we can fulfill our dreams."

At first Sanji liked the idea, but turned down the offer not long after that. "I know you want me to join you, but I can't. I need to stay here and become head chef."

"Eh, if you don't want to join now, I'll ask you later. Let's go down and eat something, what do you think?", Luffy suggested.

"Fine, I'll make you my best soup."

…

Down in the dining room for the chefs and waiters of the Baratie, Sanji presented his Luffy and his fellow employees his newly created soup. Zeff was the first to try. "Pfoo! Ew, Sanji, what abomination have you created?", he spat, pulling a disgusted face.

"What did you say, Shitty Geezer?", Sanji angrily roared.

"I said your soup sucks!"

"This soup is just as good as yours, m- ***Bonk!*** Ow, that hurt!"

"Don't you dare compare your disgusting swill with my delicious soups, mine are planet-lenghts better!"

Patty and the other cooks tried Sanji's soup too and reacted the same way as Zeff. Only Luffy liked it. But Sanji had enough.

"Come Luffy, let's go!", he muttered, depressed by the his food's dismissal by the others.

After going through the door, Luffy stayed where he was. Sanji, after noticing he wasn't following him, turned around to ask him why he's not moving.

"Hey, why are you just standing there?"

"Come look at this!", Luffy responded.

Sanji looked through the small window on the door and couldn't believe his eyes. The same people who just called his food crap, were eating his food with appetite, all of them even asking for more. The blond cook was confused and stormed inside to question everyone what's going on.

"Why are you eating my food if you hate it?", he angrily asked.

"So you found out, huh?", Zeff asked.

"What? That you secretly eat my 'swill'?"

"Look Sanji,", the head chef began, "your food is the best we've ever eaten, it's even better than mine. The only problem is, that you're stubborn as hell."

"Yeah.", Patty added. "We only did this so that you can go out and find friends."

"You- you really care about me this much?", Sanji asked, touched by his 'family''s love for him.

"We didn't tell you because you wouldn't leave. As I said, you're stubborn as hell, lil' eggplant!"

"Shut it, Shitty Geezer!", he started laughing, along with the rest.

…

After getting his stuff together, Sanji left the Baratie to join Luffy and his nakama in their adventures on the sea. His farewell was tearful and emotional, but he was happy to be on Merry, mainly because of Nami.

'Good, two more things and we're going to the Grand Line!', Luffy thought, referring to the removal of the Arlong Pirates from Nami's home island and visiting Loguetown.

* * *

 **Holy hell, out of all chapters, this was the longest. I really hope you appreciate it. If this chapter has some quality errors, I apologize, but it isn't easy to stay focused for over 6 hours straight. Constructive criticism allowed. Rate and review if you like.**


	7. C7: The not-so-superior fishman Arlong

**Never again!**

 **So today I'll be writing on the Arlong Park Arc, which is considered the best arc in the East Blue Saga. This chapter will include some emotional scenes and a bonus arc. I really hope you like it!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**

* * *

 **Chapter 7: The not-so-superior fishman Arlong**

"Nami-swaan, I have food for you!", Sanji raved, treating Nami with the best fruit cupcake. "And here's your bloody meat!", he unfriendly muttered to everyone else.

The cook liked it on Merry, he loved compliments about his food, although he only _really_ loved Nami's compliments.

Luffy was a special case. Him dubbing Sanji "best cook of the world", was pretty nice to hear for the blond, but his immeasurable gluttony, especially with meat, started annoying the new pirate. 'How can a single person eat that much, that's the 9th plate already.', he wondered.

Suddenly, a giant sea-cow-monter-like creature emerged from the sea, looking at the Going Merry. His head alone was bigger than Merry.

"AAAAAH!", Johnny and Yosaku screamed. "He's going to eat us!"

Following the scream of the idiot pair, Sanji decided to approach the monster with some meat he originally planned to serve Luffy. "Here sea cow, don't be afraid.", he gently spoke, offering him the captain's meat.

Sanji was a calm and peaceful man who would never attack an animal. He wouldn't have attacked the giant sea mammal if he didn't try to eat the cook's hands, which the cow did. "Don't push your luck!", Sanji shouted, jumping upwards. "Collier Shoot!"

The cow mooed in pain as Sanji hit him hard by his neck. "Go away now, before I turn you into a steak!"

"Sanji, wait!", Luffy exclaimed. "We can use him to pull Merry. Someone, get a rope!"

"Roger, Captain Luffy!", Usopp loudly said, running inside to search for a rope.

"I'm on it.", Zoro told, helping Usopp searching.

The injured sea monster attempted to flee, but Luffy held him tight due to his gomu gomu powers. "You're not going anywhere!", he called, but not in a threatening tone.

2 minutes later, the Straw Hats managed to put a collar around his neck. "Mooooh!", he screamed, depressed by his defeat and capture. Nami and Luffy were standing in the front end of Merry's deck, while the others were 'somewhere else'.

"Hey Luffy.", Nami began, a little more communicative than ever. "Did you know Mohmoo is actually from the Grand Line?"

"No, no I didn't.", Luffy lied.

"Arlong brought it here with him 10 years ago. He's from the Grand Line too.", she said, little to no expressions on her face.

"What does a fishman want in the East Blue?", the 17-year-old asked.

"He came here with his crew to terrorize us humans.", the ginger stated. "And to get some money."

"What did you experience in those 10 years?", Luffy questioned, fully aware of what happened to his navigator.

"I went through hell!", she growled, unable to hold back tears. "This asshole killed my mother when she didn't have enough money to pay the monthly survival tribute. It is a tribute you pay monthly to Arlong to stay alive. My mother didn't have enough money, so she sacrificed herself to save me and my sister Nojiko. She was then unscrupulously shot by Arlong. After he learned about my map-drawing skills, he kidnapped me and forced me to draw maps for him. One day I felt like I was betraying my fellow villagers, so I made a deal with Arlong. If I get 100 Million Berry together, he'll let my village Cocoyasi be free again. That's the reason I robbed many people, especially pirates. Until I pay him,", the girl explained, showing what's left of her tattoo, "I am practically his slave. This is my 'slave marking'."

Luffy was fuming inside. He remembered that he was nowhere near this angry the first time he was told this story. But hearing it directly from his crying nakama made everything worse. 'I swear Arlong, I'll make you pay for what you did to my nakama.'

"You can come out now.", the strawhat ordered, a deep voice coming out of his mouth, his eyes darker than his hair.

Right after the order was given, Zoro, Usopp, Sanji, Johnny and Yosaku came out of their hiding. The Straw Hats' eyes had the same dark expression as the eyes of their captain. Johnny and Yosaku weren't as sternly looking as Zoro, Sanji, or even Usopp, but still a little. The overall look of the scenery changed, as the sky was now covered in lighting-struck pitch black clouds.

"Nami-san, I promise those fishmen will get hurt real bad.", Sanji declared, free from all love talk.

"An enemy of my friend is my enemy.", Zoro told her, his confidence at highest despite the injury he has recently suffered.

"I'll do my best to help you, Nami, I won't let you down!", Usopp called, showing absolutely no signs of fear.

"We will help you too, Nami-aneki.", Johnny stated.

"I-indeed!", Yosaku added.

"T-thank you so much, guys.", Nami started to cry, touched by her nakama's will to help her.

"Nami, do you have 100 Million Berry?", Luffy asked, reassuring her.

"Y-yes, with the money on board, it should exactly be 100 Million.", she said.

"Good. Listen, ask a friend to borrow you a cart or a barrow. Load the money on it, then bring it to Arlong. If he betrays you, we'll step in and kick his ass.", the teenager explained.

"O-okay, I'll do so.", she said, stepping off the ship as it arrived in Cocoyasi.

…

A good hour has been, since Nami left to get the money. Luffy and his nakama along with Johnny and Yosaku waited in front of Arlong Park, the Arlong Pirates' headquarters and Arlong's residence. Few seconds later, the ginger girl finally made it to Arlong Park with a cart full of money, gold and treasures. "It's here!", she exclaimed, panting heavily. It appeares that she pulled the cart all the way to the fishman. "Your money is finally here. Now let go of Cocoyasi."

"Shahahahaha! SHAHAHAHAHA!", Arlong laughed, betraying Nami who felt like falling into the ground. "Captain Nezumi, I think you want to look at this!", he viciously said, pointing at her crying slave's treasure worth 100 Million Berry.

"Chi chi chi, what do we have here?", the rat-themed Marine spoke. "Gold and money worth 100 Million Berry, stolen from various pirates. A wonderful thing to be confiscated."

A certain strawhat felt fury build up in him, just like the ones around him. 'Arlong, betraying and making my nakama cry was your biggest mistake. Now you're going to face my full wrath, you too Nezumi!', the boy thought before he smashed Arlong Park's gate open with one hand.

"Who are you?", Arlong roared, looking at the 6 human males walking into Arlong Park.

"Your worst nightmare.", Luffy simply answered, before shifting his gaze at Nezumi.

"YOU CORRUPT BASTARD!", he yelled as he punched the corrupt Marine hundreds of meters away using 'gomu gomu no pistol'.

The Marines under Nezumi reacted by shooting at Luffy, only for the rubber man to repel the bullets back, injuring but not killing them.

"Who are you?", Arlong repeated, this time more severely. "What do you want?"

"Who I am? Your worst nightmare, future Pirate King Monkey D. Luffy. What I want? Make you pay for what you did to Nami.", the black-haired answered, so calm yet so threatening.

"Shahahahahaha! A mere human can't become Pirate King, stop dreaming!"

"Then I shall show you what one mere human can do. Gomu Gomu no Muchi!", he exclaimed, knocking out all of Arlong's regular men.

"Zoro, you take that octopus, don't kill him though, Sanji, you take on that guy with those weird arms, and Usopp, you take on big-lips.", the pirate captain ordered, addressing Hatchan/Hachi, Kuroobi and Chew.

"Oi, understand!", the three Straw Hats spoke, making their way to said fishmen.

"What about us?", Johnny and Yosaku asked in a unison.

"Do whatever you want, I'm not your captain.", Luffy answered.

"Grrrrr! You think you can come here and challenge me?", Arlong yelled. "I'm gonna show you who the boss is!"

"I'm waiting, Arfong!", Luffy spoke, teasing Arlong even more.

"You pathetic human, you'll wish you've never been born! Shark on Darts", he shouted, attacking Luffy at high speed.

"Gomu gomu no Tsuchi!", the strawhat exclaimed, grabbing a flying Arlong, then spinning him around and crashing him into the ground.

"Ow! That hurt, you bastard!", Arlong roared, now seeing Luffy as a threat.

"I'm gonna hurt you even more, but that's not even close to how you hurt Nami's feelings!", Luffy yelled at him.

"Screw her feelings, all she has to do is draw maps for me."

"Care to repeat that?". The 17-year-old glared at Nami's oppressor like a psychopath.

"I said, SCREW her feelings, all she has to do is draw maps for me."

With that said, Arlong sealed his fate. Luffy raised his fist for his next attack. "GOMU GOMU NO RIFLE!"

Upon impact, the sawshark-fishman flew right into Arlong Park, bleeding and with a broken nose. Surprisingly, he managed to stand up after that devastating attack from Luffy. Following that, his eyes turned red and blind rage overtook his healthy mind. "You stupid human!", he screamed, powerful enough to create soundwaves capable of crumbling stones. "This isn't possible, you cannot win against a superior fishman!"

"Superior means stronger, right?", Luffy mocked him, enraging the tyrant even more. "If you're really so strong, why did you came to the weakest sea to terrorize helpless people on an island without a Marine base, _Armgong_?"

"SHUT UP HUMAN, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!", he uncontrollably screamed, reaching for a saw-like blade resembling his nose."

"Oh no!", Nami exclaimed in fear. "He only gets out Kiribachi if he wants to wreck everything, watch out Luffy!"

For two reasons, one of them being dodging Kiribachi, Luffy jumped into a room in Arlong Park. Arlong followed him of course. Inside, Arlong decided to taunt Luffy in return. "You see this room? This is where I forced Nami to draw my maps.", he proudly stated.

"I see.", Luffy calmly spoke, yet hiding a storm. "Then I must destroy the room Nami hates the most!"

And so he began ripping maps in two, one by one. Arlong watched furiously as a boy destroyed his work that lasted ten years. "What are you DOING!?", the furious fishman screamed, attempting to kill the human with Kiribachi.

Luffy reacted quickly. "Armament.", he muttered. Before hitting him, Luffy caught Kiribachi with his haki-covered teeth and bit the first of the six saw teeth in pieces, Arlong watching in disbelief. 'How can a human bite through Kiribachi? No, no, I'm going insane!'

The strawhat then turned his gaze to Arlong and told him to look outside.

"Humpf! You won't get away with this! Takoashi Kiken!", Hatchan exclaimed, charging at Zoro in front of Arlong Park.

"Santoryu: Tatsu Maki!", Zoro called, defeating the octopus-fishman.

"Hachi!", Arlong shouted, mourning his friend's defeat against Zoro.

Meanwhile, Sanji was fighting Kuroobi. "Hyakumaigawara Seiken", Kuroobi exclaimed, trying to punch Sanji.

However, the fighting cook blocked it. "Poitrine!", he shouted, followed by 'Gigot', and finally 'Mouton Shot!'. Kuroobi was bested by Sanji's leg attacks. After his victory, he lighted himself a cigarette.

"Kuroobi!", Arlong shouted, not capable to understand how his strongest man was defeated by a human.

And then, unexpectedly, Usopp came running from the woods. "I won! Mighty Usopp defeated a fishman!", the sniper joyfully declared, impressing everyone.

"Even Chew!", the sawshark shouted in disbelief.

"And now to you!", Luffy called. "Watch how I destroy Arlong Park."

"YOU INFERIOR PIECE OF SHIT, I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!", the red-eyed fishman pirate screamed in rage.

"You might be enraged because I'm destroying what you worked for in 10 years, but I'll never forgive you for making my nakama cry!", the pirate captain stated, standing firm and tall like iron.

"Shark on Tooth!", Arlong yelled as he charged at Luffy faster than ever.

"Armament!", Luffy exclaimed, covering his full body in Armament haki. "Gomu Gomu no Ono!"

This meant the end for Arlong Park. After the teenager executed his attack by stretching his foot out of the roof, breaking it in the process, then bringing it down crashing on the floor, the yellow mansion known as Arlong Park crumbled like a house of cards and the crashing sound roared through the night. After some moments of silence, a haki covered Luffy emerged from the rubble. "Nami, I can't erase all of your pain, but I managed to lower it a bit."

Emotionally touched, the girl ran into her hero's arms and cried, happy he's safe.

'Oh Nami, if you just always were so lovable and not bitchy like most time.'

…

Learning about Arlong's defeat, the people of Cocoyasi arranged a fiest for the Straw Hat Pirates. Sanji flirted with the women, Usopp told kids about his 'adventures', Zoro drank his sake, and Nami and Luffy had a talk with Cocoyasi's mayor Genzo. At first it was about the village's gratitude, then it got to business.

"If you hang the these flags on not only this village, but also on the other villages on this island and its neighbor islands, you'll be protected by us, the Straw Hats."

"Hold on a second. We can't be protected by a pirate, and besides, we've been occupied by pirates and suffered greatly under them.", Genzo complained. "Nami's mother was one of many casualties here."

Nami looked sad at first, but then smiled. "Uncle Genzo-san, Bellemère may have died, but Luffy here has made me believe not all pirates are bad. He's a good guy, please, trust him."

"Yes, Nami is my nakama. I wouldn't do anything that would hurt her.", Luffy said, smiling at the mustached man with scars all over his face.

"Okay, I'll accept. Coming back to Nami, boy, if you ever make her cry, I'll hunt you down and kill you.", the mayor warned the pirate.

"As I said before, I'd never do anything that would hurt her.", Luffy told him once again.

Genzo smiled in relief. "Good, let's go eat something."

…

The next day after some more eating and loading resources on the ship, the Straw Hats went on to set sail again. Johnny and Yosaku decided to stay in Cocoyasi, located somewhere on the Conomi Islands, which were all Straw Hat territories now. Oddly, the female navigator struggled to get on board.

"Nami, what is it?", Luffy asked, concerned about the well-being of his nakama.

"You know,", she began, "when you finally get your home back, you have a hard time leaving."

Luffy perfectly understood what she meant. 'I know exactly what gets her on the ship, she can't resist that.', he thought, chuckling inside. "Your 100 Million Berry is on Merry!"

"Don't you dare touch my treasure!", she yelled with shark teeth, running on Merry.

Upon the pirate ship, Luffy noticed her Arlong Pirates-tattoo was missing. "Hey Nami, can you tell me where your tattoo is?"

"I told a doctor to remove it, nobody needs that kind of memory.", she explained, smiling just as bright as Luffy sometimes.

"Haha, right!", Luffy agreed, followed by shared laughter between the Straw Hats. 5 minutes later, they set sail, waving their hands at their new friends.

…

In a Marine base somewhere in the East Blue, Captain Nezumi, sitting in his office, called the Marine headquarters. He wanted to request a high bounty on Monkey D. Luffy, his new enemy.

"Hello, Marine headquarters? Nezumi here. Listen, I demand a high bounty on a new dangerous pirate. His name is Monkey D. Luffy. I've looked up what he's done so far and you'll not believe this, he's defeated…

…

Bonus arc

"'Iron Mace' Alvida, 'Axe-hand Morgan', Buggy the Clown, 'Kuro of a hundred plans', 'Foul-play' Krieg, and now Arlong the Saw. Not to mention the minor criminals and Marines he's defeated or assaulted, like Nezumi. This kid is a bigger threat than I thought. We can't let vermin like this roam around freely.", a Rear Admiral who visited 153rd Branch said, looking at Luffy's wanted poster.

 **Wanted: Dead or Alive: Monkey D. Luffy, 80.000.000 Berry**

Coby, who was a chore boy in 153rd Branch along with Helmeppo who he had befriended, saw Luffy's wanted poster and had mixed feelings about this.

"Helmeppo-san, is that good or bad? It shows that Luffy is pretty strong, but won't the Marines hunt him down with such a high bounty like that?", he asked his friend.

"Bad I guess, he's a newbie with a high bounty, which means the higher-ranked will try to get his head as soon as possible to eliminate the 'young threat'.", Helmeppo answered.

"But I don't want him to be hunted by so many of us, he's my friend.", the pink-haired said.

"Are you crazy?", Helmeppo quietly exclaimed, putting his hand in front of his friend's mouth. "If you tell the Marines your friend is a pirate, you'll be thrown out faster than you can say 'pirate'!"

"So so, who's your friend?"

Coby and Helmeppo looked behind. Marine hero Vice Admiral Garp, who visited 153rd Branch for fun, was kneeing behind them. He heard every single word of their conversation.

"AAAAAAH!", the two screamed, trying to run away before having the shit beat out of them by the old man.

Later that day, in their cabin, Helmeppo and his friend had a serious conversation. "No way, you can't actually want HIM to train us!", the blond exclaimed, opposing his roommate's idea.

"But Helmeppo-san, Garp-san is a Marine hero and considered to be as strong as the Fleet Admiral. If he trains us, we can become stronger and can stop mopping the floors and stuff like that.", the boy with glasses answered, defending his idea.

"Meh, do what you want, I'm not in it.", Helmeppo stated.

Coby started doing some push-ups, one by one. Having nothing to do, the egghead grew bored and decided to train too.

For the next month or so, the chore boy duo trained and fought with Garp every day. Despite the huge difference in power, the two new Marines improved themselves every day: For each day passing, they stood 3 seconds longer agains Garp. But in the end, the Vice Admiral beat both of them without dropping a sweat.

"It's hopeless.", Helmeppo muttered, bruises covering his body.

"You were right, we can't beat him.", Coby spoke, at the same state as his friend. "He's just too strong."

"I thought you wouldn't give up like that!", Garp said, punching the two on top of their heads with his fists as he appeared behind them.

"V-vice Admiral Garp!", the now weak duo stuttered.

"I decided to take you with me to the Marine headquarters, you lil' brats."

"Awesome!", the chore boys yelled at each other, filled with joy.

"But", Garp spoke, "you will wish you can go back to your mommies, your training will be worse than hell."

Nonetheless, the two decided to go with the hero to fulfill their dreams: becoming good Marines.

* * *

 **Alright, that was it for this chapter. Don't worry, I didn't do a timeskip, in the next chapter I'll turn back time. Speaking of time, time's almost up for my version of the East Blue Saga. Stay hyped for the Grand Line, it'll come soon. Bye bye!**


	8. C8: Father and Son

**Never again!**

 **Once again, thanks for the reviews. I'm reading your reviews and adjusting my stories to improve them. By doing that, I try to deliver you better stories. In this chapter, time is set back again. Chronologically, the Loguetown Arc happens around the beginning of last chapter's bonus arc. I'll start this chapter with some reactions to Luffy's first bounty. Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**

* * *

 **Chapter 8: Father and Son**

Reactions to Luffy's bounty

...

On the Moby Dick, Whitebeard's ship:

"Father, father, you won't believe this!", Ace exclaimed, running towards his new captain Whitebeard alongside Sabo. "Look at this, this is our little brother."

He handed his brother's wanted poster to Whitebeard AKA Edward Newgate. Alongside the gigantic old man there were Marco, his 1st divison commander, and Thatch, his 4th divison commander. Ace and Sabo both became 2nd division commanders after they joined the Whitebeard Pirates.

Whitebeard, Marco and Thatch looked at Luffy's wanted poster. **Wanted: Dead or Alive: Monkey D. Luffy, 80.000.000 Berry**.

"Gurarararara, that's a high first bounty for a brat like you two.", the captain remarked, observing Luffy's wanted poster, just like Marco and Thatch.

"Probs cause he's using haki.", Marco said, pointing out the 17-year-old's picture. It was Monkey D. Luffy's angry looking face covered in black armament haki, matching the pitch black clouds in the background, which are strucked by dark purple lightnings.

"Boy, a beginner from the East Blue is able to use haki? Guess he's gonna be a big pirate sooner or later.", Thatch commented, his face smiling as always.

"Yeah, I think so too. As a kid Luffy always talked about becoming Pirate King. Ace and I had the same dream so we constantly argued. Luffy wanted to become Pirate King on his own and took his decision so seriously that he refused to come with us when Ace and I set sail three years ago.", Sabo told, remembering the old days.

"Man, you should see how stubborn he is, it's unreal.", Ace added, somewhat annoyed and proud. "Even though, he'll always be our brother."

"Gurarararara! How funny you brats are!", Whitebeard laughed, iniating everyone else to laugh too.

…

Somewhere in the East Blue:

Dracule Mihawk hadn't returned to the Grand Line yet. Instead he decided to go to a tropical island in the East Blue to rest a little. A seagull brought him the newest newspaper, including a wanted poster. He looked at the wanted poster of the boy he'd previously met. **Wanted: Dead or Alive: Monkey D. Luffy, 80.000.000 Berry.**

'A haki user in the East Blue with a starter bounty of 80 Million, interesting.', he thought, keeping his trademark "death stare" expression on his face.

A few minutes later after wandering the sandy beach in front of thousand of green palm trees, the swordsman met Shanks and his crew, who were sitting around a campfire, seriously drunk. Mihawk decided to just stare at what he's looking at without a word, like always.

"Oi Mihawk!", a drunk Shanks yelled in a happy mood. "Long time no see, what are you doing around here?"

"Resting a little before I return home.", he muttered. "By the way, have you ever heard of someone named Monkey D. Luffy?"

"Luffy? Holy moly, it's been 10 years! Yeah, I know him, I used to call him Anchor back in the days. Tell me, have you met him?"

"I've met him yesterday where he took out Don Krieg, strong kid. His swordsman is considered the best in the East Blue, but only a fly compared to ones from the Grand Line.", the Shichibukai explained before handing out Luffy's wanted poster to the redhead. "This is his wanted poster, it came out today."

Shanks glared at the wanted poster belonging to the kid he met 10 years ago. His crew gathered behind him to look at it too. "Hey captain, let us see too!"

 **Wanted: Dead or Alive: Monkey D. Luffy, 80.000.000 Berry**

The Red Hair Pirates had different reactions. Some dropped their jaws, some just nodded, and some started laughing – Shanks. "Dahahaha, that's our Luffy!"

'Jeez, how can he react like that?', Mihawk thought, opting to leave.

But Shanks pulled him back. "Hold on, I can't allow you to leave, come party with us!", a certain Yonko demanded, red on his cheeks from drinking too much.

"Eh, a little drink can't be bad.", the swordsman muttered, sitting down with the rest of them.

…

In the Marine headquarters:

Fleet Admiral Sengoku was sitting in his office and he clearly was NOT happy. He previously called Garp in, who burst out laughing.

"I don't know what's funny Garp, remember the last time a black-haired man with a straw hat made a himself a big name. History could repeat itself.", Sengoku roared at Garp.

"BWAAHAHAHAHAHA, THAT'S MY GRANDSON! BWAAHAHAHAHAHA!", the Vice Admiral yelled, laughing and eating donuts.

"How could you be proud of a family like that?! Your son is the most wanted man in the world, your two adoptive grandsons are Yonko commanders, and your biological grandson has a high chance of becoming the next Roger. Geez, Garp, what's wrong with your family?", the Marine with an afro exclaimed.

"Relax, when I see Luffy, he's going to taste my Fist of Love.", the Marine hero stated.

"You better do so, he's able to use haki judging by his photo.", Sengoku said.

"I've been able to use haki before Dragon was born, he can't surpass me!", Luffy's grandfather claimed, suddenly upset that his donut box is empty. "Whatever, I'm leaving, bye!"

"Good, but this time use the door please!", the Fleet Admiral desperately begged.

"Nope, not cool enough.", Garp spoke, punching a fridge-sized hole in his best friend's office's wall, leaving after that.

"GAAAAAARP!"

…

On the Going Merry:

Nami cursed about how expensive newspapers are, while she obtained the newest newspaper along with the most recent wanted posters from a newspaper-delivering seagull. She then looked at the wanted posters, from the lowest to the highest bounties.

'Nothing interesting here', the orange-haired thought, before looking at the highest bounty. After that she gasped for air.

"Guys, guys! Look at Luffy's new bounty!", the navigator exclaimed, running towards her nakama.

The Straw Hats looked at Luffy's wanted poster and gasped for air, like Nami – except their captain.

 **Wanted: Dead or Alive: Monkey D. Luffy, 80.000.000 Berry**

"L-luffy! Y-your bounty!", Usopp stammered in fear, looking like a giant spider was about to eat him. He had never seen such a high bounty before.

"I knew you were strong, but THAT strong?", Zoro exclaimed, the least frightened about his captain's first bounty.

"Luffy, that's the highest bounty someone's ever received in the East Blue, you just broke a record!", Nami stated, also in fear.

"Yeah, with such a high bounty you'll atract trouble like crazy, and then _Nami-swaan_ will be in danger. Have some respect for women!", Sanji said, raving a little.

Luffy rolled his eyes at Sanji's remark "Says you!", he called, the others knowing what's up.

The first mate looked at the wanted poster again. Seeing his captain's black skin, he decided to question the black-haired. "Oi Luffy, why do you turn black sometimes, it's not the first time I saw this."

"Actually, now that I think about it, your skin does look weird. Tell me Luffy, what is that?", Sanji added, curious about his captain's skills and secrets.

"It's good that you ask.", Luffy spoke, turning to everyone on board. "I wanted to tell you this for a long time, and now that you, my core members are here, I can tell you. What you see there is haki."

"Haki?", Usopp asked, not knowing what haki is.

"Haki is a power you have to awaken from your willpower. There are three types of haki: Observation haki, Armament haki and King's haki. Observation haki is a power where you can sense the presence of others around you. The better you master this ability, the further you can detect the presence of others. Another ability Observation haki grants you is the ability to predict your opponent's attacks, making it easier to either evade them or block them.", Luffy explained. "For example, Zoro, try to hit me with your swords."

"Are you really telling me to attack you?", the swordsman asked, thinking it's wrong to attack one's captain.

"Don't worry, nothing's gonna happen to me.", the teen reassured the green-haired.

"Okay, if that's what you want.", Zoro said, attempting to slash Luffy, who easily dodged each attack of his nakama.

After a while, Zoro became exhausted. "*wheeze*, you win, Luffy!"

"Thanks. Zoro, from now on, to awaken your Observation haki you must fight with one or two swords, understand? I'm sure fighting with less swords helps you concentrate against your opponents. And when you fight against weaker opponents, try to do this with your eyes closed, okay?", the 17-year-old told his swordsman.

"I'll follow your orders, captain.", the green-haired promised, much to Luffy's pleasure.

"And now to the next lesson. Armament haki is a power where you embed your body or your weapons in armor created by willpower. This is the reason why sometimes my body turns black. Another ability you get with Armament haki is the ability to injure Logia-users, since blunt attacks don't work on them. Speaking of blunt attacks, if someone without Armament haki hits someone with Armament haki, the attack is useless, no matter how strong the one attacking is.", Luffy continued. "To demonstrate this I will show you something. Sanji, kick my face with full force!"

At first Sanji disagreed, but after Luffy's encouragement and some reassuring, the cook kicked Luffy's haki-covered face. "Did it hurt?", Sanji asked, after kicking his captain's face.

"No, not at all.", Luffy answered. "Sanji, I want you to awaken your Armament haki, and you too, Zoro!"

"What else do you want from me, to take over everyone's position or what?!", Zoro yelled with sharp teeth.

"You're the vice captain so I expect you to be the strongest in my crew.", Luffy explained, knowing how to deal with situations like this.

"If that's the case, then I'll do everything you want.", Zoro said, smirking widely.

"Where were we…? Ah, right! And now to King's haki, the most powerful version. Unlike the previous two versions, King's haki cannot be awakened by everyone. Only one in a few million possesses King's haki. With King's haki, you can overpower the wills of others. Or easier explained, you can knock out the weaker-willed with energy waves you emit. I for one possess King's haki.", Luffy further explained, ending his lecture.

"Wow, didn't know haki was that powerful.", Usopp spoke, admitting his lack of knowledge.

"The usage of haki in the Grand Line, especially in the New World is extremely helpful, so you better awaken it as soon as possible."

The others nodded.

"There's more I need to tell you. Besides haki, there is another extremely strong and helpful power. I'm talking about Rokushiki."

"Rokushiki?", Nami asked, just like Usopp with haki, frowning.

"It's a martial arts style used by Marines and government agents. Rokushiki consists of six superhuman techniques, and if you master all of them, you have access to an additional technique which is far stronger than the others, the Rokuogan. First there's Shigan/Finger Pistol, a technique where you move your finger so fast it's as deadly as a pistol. This is the most dangerous one of the normal Rokushiki, so I won't demonstrate it. Then there's Soru/Shave, a technique where you can move almost as fast as teleportation. Let me demonstrate it. Soru!", Luffy explained, before disappearing.

"Where is he?", Usopp asked, as confused as the others listening to Luffy.

"Right here!"

"AAAAAAAAH!", Usopp screamed as he turned around. "L-luffy, don't scare me like that!"

Luffy didn't answer. Instead he continued explaining Rokushiki. "After that there's Geppo/Moonwalk, a technique where you can walk in the air, and if you're not a devil fruit user, you can use it in the water as well. Look at this, Geppo!", he continued, before jumping through the air like there were stairs.

"Impressive!", Zoro, Sanji, Nami and Usopp exclaimed.

"Sanji, you use your legs very often, so I would recommend this technique to you.", Luffy said, Sanji nodding.

"Following that there's Rankyaku/Tempest Kick, a technique where you kick so fast it creates a sharp air blade capable of cutting walls. Once again, I would recommend it to you, Sanji. Furthermore there's Tekkai/Iron Body, a technique where you harden your muscles to the level of iron. It's similar to Armament haki, but unlike Armament haki this technique requires great physical strength and is inferior to Armament haki. Zoro and Sanji, while you learn to awaken your Armament haki, you can also learn this technique. The last normal Rokushiki technique is Kami-e/Paper Art, where you make your body go limp in ordert o avoid any attacks. This requires high physical speed, but nonetheless, I think you could use this pretty well, Nami and Usopp. And finally, in the end, there's the Rokuogan/Six King Gun. You need to master all other Rokushiki techniques for being able to use this one. You place your fists right in front of your opponent and release a massive shockwave which makes the opponent suffer internal injuries. However, be warned. Even if you were able to use this, you should only use it in the most desperate situations, since this technique takes away lots of your energy. That's all I need to say."

After that long explanation of Luffy, his nakama were full of new information and realized how much they have to train.

"From now on you'll train every day. Sanji vs Zoro and Nami vs Usopp. This is only haki related training, you'll have to come to me if you want to learn Rokushiki techniques.", the black-haired boy full of knowledge declared.

Something didn't seem right to the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates. How did their captain know all this when he's not even a Marine or government agent. Sanji was the first to question this.

"Erm, Luffy, thanks for all this information, that was really educational, but how and since when do you know this?"

That question hit Luffy like an airplane. The blond with a cigarette in his mouth had a good point. 'Damn it, it's way too early to tell!', he thought.

"It's a secret.", the 17-year-old said, desperately smiling and sweating.

His nakama looked at him, aware of their captain hiding something. "A crew shouldn't have secrets, we trust you and you trust us, why are you hiding something?", Zoro asked, piercing Luffy with his question.

"Look, it's a very big secret that's uneasy to explain. Once I gather all of my nakama together, I'll tell you everything, I promise. For now the only thing you need to do is getting stronger, not for me but for yourselves, got it?"

There was silence. Luffy's nakama rethought about their trust towards their captain. He was hiding something, that was 100% evident.

The unpleasant silence on Merry was interrupted by Nami, who saw an island not very far from their point. "I see Loguetown, we're almost there.", she reported.

"Good. You can do whatever you want in Loguetown, but there are some things to get for us. Nami, go and buy 11 Den Den Mushies, one for the ship and 10 for each one of us. If you ask why 10, if we lose one, we can replace it with another one. And buy me a red captain's coat with golden epaulettes please. Sanji, all you need to do is getting us some food. Fish and meat should be the dominant part of your acquisition. That's all."

With that, the Straw Hats split for now.

…

Roronoa Zoro was running through the streets of Loguetown. 'Where the f*ck is a sword store?', he asked himself, tired of aimlessly running.

Almost like fate wanted it, he bumped into a blue-haired woman. "Ouch!", they both yelled.

"Look at where you're going!", the woman exclaimed. She turned around, her glasses shattered.

'What the hell? She looks just like… Kuina.', Zoro snapped, remembering his old girlfriend. "I- uh, sorry… what's your name?"

"Tashigi.", she answered.

'What is going on? She's also named after a bird.'. "Do you want me to help you? Where's the next place selling glasses?", the pirate politely asked, not knowing how to handle his thoughts and the overall situation.

"The end of this street, on the right.", she explained. "One more thing, I can't see anything without my glasses, could you hold my hand until we're there?"

The green-haired blushed at this. "O-okay, I'll do this if you want."

Random people of Loguetown observed the entire strange and confusing incident, much to Zoro's unhappyness.

After one minute of walking through the streets of Loguetown filled with gazes of curious citizens, the two swordsmen arrived at their destination. "You owe me 1000 Berry for my glasses.", Tashigi spoke.

"Alright, there you have it.", Zoro muttered, handing over the money.

"Thanks", the Marine said, walking into the store.

The green-haired sighed in relief. 'Finally, it's over. Why does she have to look like her, I can't stand it!'. He turned his head to the right, realizing there's a sword shop. "'Ippon-Matsu's Arms Shop'. Let's go in there.", he quietly murmured, opening the door.

"Hello there, customer, what can I do for you?", the owner asked in a loud, inviting tone. His hairstyle resembled the one of a clown and his nose was reddish.

"I'm looking for two new swords.", the pirate stated. He handed his two weaker swords to Ippon-Matsu who inspected them.

"Those two are of bad quality, I see why you want new ones.", the man remarked, looking directly into the eyes of Zoro. "May I see your third sword?"

Zoro hesitated a little. "You can see it, but I don't intend to replace this."

The arms dealer's eyes widened when he saw the green-haired's best sword after he handed Wado Ichimonji over. 'T-that's Wado Ichimonji, one of 21 Great Grade Swords. Its owner doesn't seem aware of what treasure he owns. I have to get my hands on it!'

"Sir, I am interested in your third sword, can I have it for 100.000 Berry?", the shopkeeper asked, trying to rip off his customer.

"Nope, not selling it", was Zoro's answer.

"What about 200.000?"

"Nope!"

"300.000?"

"Nope!"

"500.000?"

"Nope!"

"Okay, this is my last offer! 1.000.000 Berry?"

"Never!"

"ARRRGH!", the man cursed, seriously frustrated.

Three seconds later, Tashigi came in with some new glasses. She walked towards the counter and her eyes landed on Zoro's Wado Ichimonji. "Holy cow, Wado Ichimonji! That's one of 21 Great Grade Swords, worth over 10 Million Berry."

The shop owner made an annoyed face. "Did you have to tell? I was trying to buy it for less than it's worth.", he groaned.

"It doesn't matter if you would have offered me 100 Million Berry, I would never sell it anyway. It is something I've received from a good friend, and it's worth more to me than anything else.", the pirate explained, impressing Tashigi and Ippon-Matsu with his view on what's a treasure and what not. "Anyways, I only have 100 Thousand Berry with me, do you have some swords for 50 Thousand or less?"

The red-nosed man frowned at this question. "I do have some cheap swords, but their quality is as poor as those two swords you've shown me not long ago. They're in that basket there.", he said, pointing at a basket full of swords.

Zoro walked towards said basket and pulled out Sandai Kitetsu. "This one doesn't seem of poor quality to me.", he spoke, carefully looking at his future new sword.

Ippon-Matsu freaked out as he saw the swordsman look at that sword. "Don't buy that!", he panically exclaimed. "It's a cursed sword!"

"A cursed sword?", the green-haired asked. "What do you mean?"

"The Sandai Kitetsu is one of three Kitetsu swords. This lineage of swords is said to be cursed. To date each owner of a Kitetsu is said to be dead, dead because he just owned a kitetsu. This one, being the latest to be produced, is the weakest Kitetsu, but still overly deadly.", the shop owner explained.

"Tch, if it's really cursed, then I should test my luck!", Zoro spoke, throwing the cursed sword in the air and stretching out his arm.

"DON'T!", Tashigi and Ippon-Matsu yelled, scared that his arm might fall off.

Sandai Kitetsu made lots of turns in the air. When it was about to reach the green-haired, it barely missed, proving its future owner's and tamer's luck.

The whole shop was speechless for a short period of time, but then Ippon-Matsu decided to break the silence. "Congratulations! I've never seen a man lucky enough to escape a Kitetsu's curse, you are a worthy swordsman, so I'm giving it to you for free."

"Really? That's nice of you.", Zoro said, smirking. He was happy that he didn't have to pay.

"And that's not all.", the owner continued, while going into the shop's storeroom to get another sword. "This is Yubashiri, one of 50 Skillful Grade Swords and my family tresure. Take good care of it, I'm entrusting it to you for free."

Zoro was fortunate and amazed to hear that, the previously fraudulent shopkeeper gave him two of his best swords for free. Tashigi was pretty surprised too, the previously clumsy moss-haired man she met was actually a skilled swordsman.

"Thank you for everything Matsu-san, I will become the world's best swordsman with these swords.", he declared, not wanting to disappoint the generous man.

"I'm happy to hear that.", the middle-aged man said. After that, Zoro left the shop trying to go back to Merry, just to get lost due to his bad sense of orientation.

…

5 minutes earlier:

Luffy walked towards Marine Captain Smoker who he had spotted somewhere in the harbor. 'Smoker, one of the only Marines I like. He's actually pretty fun, shame I had to kill him for helping Akainu and his dogs slaughter my nakama.', the 17-year-old thought, respecting his friendly enemy.

"Excuse me, where is Roger's execution platform?", the boy asked, getting the Marine's attention.

"Follow the smoke trail.", he instructed, creating a long trail of smoke with his moku moku powers.

"Thanks Smokey!", Luffy called, following the smoke trail.

"It's _Smoker, Captain_ Smoker!", the Captain angrily shouted at a running Luffy.

One minute later, Smoker's subordinate Master Chief Petty Officer Tashigi came running towards him. "Captain Smoker, look at this!", she exclaimed, giving him Luffy's wanted poster. "That's the most recent wanted poster, and an extraordinary one. Look at his bounty."

 **Wanted: Dead or Alive: Monkey D. Luffy, 80.000.000 Berry**

"You know what Tashigi?", the Marine started, changing his cigars. "I think I just let him pass by."

…

Present timeline:

Luffy glared at the execution platform built for Gol D. Roger, former Pirate King. It was huge, and an even bigger tourist attraction. This monument could be considered legendary. "I want to be on that!", Luffy said, stretching out his arms. "Gomu Gomu no Rocket!"

Seconds later, Luffy was lying on the execution platform, looking at at least 1000 people standing in the city center. His arrival on the platform didn't stay unnoticed. "What are you doing there? Get down!", an inhabitant of Loguetown shouted, but the pirate didn't care.

Suddenly, dark clouds quickly engulfed the sky. Following that it started to rain heavily. 'Father's here.", Luffy thought, sensing Dragon's presence with his haki. 'Not only that, Buggy will soon come too. I should get outta he-'

His thoughts were interrupted by the clacking sound of kairoseki shackles. Cabaji managed to catch him off guard. 'Shit!'

A slim lady with an iron mace started walking towards the city center. She hit some Marines with her mace who tried to run at the platform.

"You just hit a Marine, we'll have to arrest you.", a Marine officer declared.

"You won't arrest me, right?", the woman said, seducing the Marines with her looks.

"N-no, of course not!", heart-eyed soldiers let out.

"And you.", she turned to Luffy. "Do you know who I am?"

"No, who are you?", Luffy asked, knowing the answer.

"Think about it, you're the only man who hit me.", the lady spoke.

"I've never seen you before!", he lied.

"Then I'll tell you. I'm Alvida."

"Whaaat?! You're that ugly fat whale Alvida? Impossible!"

"I was never a whale!", she yelled with sharp teeth. "But I look different, right? That's because I ate the sube sube no mi. Now my skin is perfectly smooth, and I'm really beautiful, right Buggy?"

Buggy then appeared from the shadows along with his crew. "That's right Alvida, you definitely are."

The Buggy Pirates encircled the city center. "Everybody, hear me out! I'm taking all of you hostage. Don't try to escape, or else…", Buggy threatened, maniacally laughing.

From one of the buildings around the city center, Captain Smoker and Tashigi watched all of this. Smoker had a megaphone with him, but decided to speak out later.

Sanji, Nami, Zoro and Usopp also came to the scene.

"What does our captain always get himself into?", Sanji asked, annoyed by Luffy's stupidity getting caught.

"We're too late!", Usopp exclaimed, fearing for his friend and captain.

At the same time, Buggy started to get on top of the execution platform. "People of Loguetown, I'm announcing the flashy execution of 'Straw Hat Luffy'. Now watch as I flashily execute this straw hat brat."

"Cool, I always wanted to see an execution!", Luffy joked.

"You're the one getting executed, dumbass!", the clown roared with sharp teeth.

"Oh no, that sucks.", the boy muttered.

"LUFFY!", his nakama screamed, thinking their captain will die.

"Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji. Sorry, I'm dead!", the strawhat shouted, smiling brightly in his, supposedly, last seconds.

Right before Buggy cut Luffy's head off, a lightning with high voltage struck Buggy's body and the execution platform, making both fall down. Luffy's shackles were destroyed in the process. 'Thanks dad', the teenager thought in gratitude.

Immediately after Luffy was free again, he started to give orders to his nakama. "Everyone, let's get back on the ship. We've nothing to do here anymore."

Captain Smoker finally started talking into his megaphone. "Marines, there are three dangerous pirates in the city center, don't let them escape!"

With that, dozens of Marines rushed into the city center, some clashing with the Buggy Pirates, some clashing with the Straw Hat Pirates. Zoro and Sanji defeated most of them and continued running. Zoro however, was stopped by a certain female Marine, Tashigi.

"Why didn't you tell me you're a pirate?", she angrily demanded, swinging her sword at Zoro.

"You didn't tell me you were a Marine either.", Zoro spoke, blocking Tashigi's stroke.

"I'll tell you something. I love swords and can't see them in the hands of criminals. I will rescue every high valued sword from the pawns of dirty pirates. You have three of them, hand them over!", she stated, continuing her attack.

"I'm not gonna hand over anything, I'll become the best swordsman in the world!", he explained, blocking even more attacks.

"A pirate like you doesn't deserve to be the best swordsman in the world, I will be the best!"

 _Flashback: A 9-year-old Zoro approached his girlfriend and rival Kuina. She was sitting outside in the rain. He walked towards her with two real swords, opposite to the wooden sticks with which they would normally fight._

" _Hey Kuina.", Zoro spoke, getting her attention. "We've fought 2000 times before and I've never beaten you. I've improved a lot since the first time I've lost to you. And now I'm challenging you to our 2001st and last duel, this time with real swords."_

 _Kuina stood up and took the sword her rival has given to her. "Prepare to lose one more time."_

 _And so they dueled, longer than ever before. This was the longest duel they've ever had, but in the end the victor was Kuina. Despite beating him, she refused to do any damage to her friend._

 _Like every time before, Zoro said he'd become the world's greatest swordsman. "This may've been our last battle, but one day, when I grow up, I'll become the world's greatest swordsman, and I'll beat you!"_

 _Flashback end_

'Dammit! Why are those memories coming up now?', he thought, remembering his not-so-happy past. He swung one more time at the Marine's sword and knocked it out of her hand, defeating her.

Like Kuina, he decided to spare his opponent's life. But Tashigi didn't like this, not at all.

"Why are you sparing me, huh? Because I'm a woman? Do you know how hard it is to be a female swordsman?I wish I was born a boy!", she almost screamed.

Her short, blue hair and her almost black eyes with that facial expression were almost identical to Kuina 10 years ago. Zoro flinched at that.

 _Flashback: After another one of Zoro's "I'll defeat you" speaches, Kuina reacted in another way than normally._

" _Of course you will be better in the future! My father told me that no woman could be the best swordsman in the world, because their fighting skills would decrease as they age. It's so unfair, I wish I was born a boy!"_

 _The green-haired kid was shocked by his greatest rival's words. His greatest foe just admitted she'd be no match for him in the future. But Zoro thought different than her or her father._

" _Look, one day, one of us will become the world's greatest swordsman, not because of our gender, but through hard training. Promise me that, understand?"_

 _The skilled girl was touched by his wise, consoling words. Nobody she'd ever seen in her life judged her skills and potential by her skills alone, except Roronoa Zoro. Everyone else judged her skills and potential by her gender. His offer was an offer she HAD to accept._

" _Y-yes, I promise."_

 _The next day, she died by falling down the stairs._

 _Flashback end_

"WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AND SOUNDING LIKE _HER,_ I CAN'T LOOK AT YOUR FACE, I CAN'T STAND IT! AND YOU'RE ONLY DOING IT WORSE BY SAYNG THE EXACT SAME THINGS _SHE_ SAID!", the 19-year-old cried, tears running down his face. He then ran away.

"Wait! Kill me, don't disrespect me, it's hurting my pride!", she also cried, through the rain. Her defeat and her enemy's words were like bullets through her heart.

…

Meanwhile, Smoker chased Luffy through the streets of Loguetown. "Strawhat, I'm gonna get you!"

"Too slow, Smokey!", Luffy mocked him, laughing.

"I'll show you who's slow, White Out!", he shouted, shooting smoke clouds at the black-haired.

Due to his speed advantage, Luffy easily evaded the clouds. "You've got to be faster than that!", the strawhat called.

"White Blow!", Smoker exclaimed, turning one of his arms except his fist into smoke, trying to hit Luffy in a long-range attack.

'This was THAT attack that always got me. Man, I remember all the trouble I had, before learning how to use haki of course.', Luffy thought, activating Armament haki.

"Armament! Gomu Gomu no Gatling!", Luffy shouted, turning around and hitting his new rival rapidly with haki-covered fists. Smoker had no chance, since he was a Logia user.

"Haki in the East Blue? I've heard of it before, but never used it on my own, since I've never learned it. One thing is clear: You are a dangerous pirate with a great threat-potential and I'll hunt you, even if it means going all the way to Raftel!", he declared, before passing out.

'Great, I've just made myself an enemy for life.', he thought, before leaving for his ship.

Out of nowhere, a mysterious man covered in a green cloak came, walking out of the shadows. The future Pirate King recognized him in the first second, his father Monkey D. Dragon, leader of the Revolutionary Army. His most recognizeable trait was the red tattoo-like mark in his face.

"Well hello there, father.", Luffy spoke in a low and calm tone.

"You've heard of me?", Dragon asked, coming closer with every step.

"Gramps never told me about you, but it's as clear as freshwater that you're my father, since your surname is 'Monkey', just like mine."

"I knew father never told you about me, he wouldn't want you to be recognized as the son of the most wanted criminal on Earth."

"I can think that far, that's why he hid Ace's real identity."

"Ace?", Luffy's father asked, not knowing who Ace is.

"My adoptive brother, just like Sabo. They're both Gramps' adoptive grandsons, that makes you their adoptive father.", the strawhat explained.

"Ace and Sabo as in 'Fire Fist' Ace and 'Black Rod' Sabo?", the Revolutionary asked, followed by a nod of Luffy.

"I see you have family, Luffy, but I have two questions regarding your family.", Dragon said, readying his questions.

"Go on, ask them. I'm willing to answer your questions.", the 17-year-old told him.

"First, do you consider me your father, and second, what do you think of me?"

"You're my biological father, so yes, I consider you my father and part of my family. I'm not like Ace or Sabo, who would kill their real fathers. I don't hate you.", Luffy explained, much to Dragon's relief.

"A-"

"But,", the son cut his father off, "I don't love you either. You've done nothing to make me hate you, but you haven't done nothing to make me love you either. I can easily love you, but you have to do some things to make me love you first."

"Luffy,", Dragon began, "I'm sorry I haven't been there for you as a child, but please understand that it's hard to lead the Revolutionary Army. I'm doing it for the good of the world"

"It's fine.", Luffy spoke. "I understand you. I also hate the government. I'm also sure you would approach me some time in the future when I'm a little older, so I'm forgiving you your absence in my childhood."

The Revolutionary was touched by his son. "Oh what a great son I have!", he exclaimed, hugging his offspring. "When time has come, I'll introduce you to your mother."

"I can't wait for that.", Luffy said. "That was a nice reunion. We'll see each other in the future right?"

"Right."

"Bye for now, I have to hurry, we'll have to reach the Grand Line as fast as possible!", Luffy called, running and waving his hands at his father.

"Goodbye Luffy, remember that I'll always be there for you when trouble comes."

With that, the two black-haired parted their ways.

…

On the Merry, Luffy's nakama were waiting for him.

"Where have you been, Luffy?", Nami asked, hugging him. "We were worried."

"I've only met someone I respect.", he answered, not going into details.

"Anyways, we've acquired what you wanted.", she said, showing him 11 Den Den Mushies. "And here's your captain's coat."

The strawhat had stars in his eyes after seeing his new coat. It was manily red, with golden epaulettes and buttons. The outer line of the coat was also in gold. On the back, there was the jolly roger of the Straw Hat Pirates.

"T-thank you, you're the best crew a captain could ever have!"

"Hey Captain Luffy, I've cooked some delicious meat with fish sauce while we were alone, do you want to try it?", Sanji asked, making Luffy drool.

"Meeeaaaat!", Luffy exclaimed, running into the kitchen.

"Don't eat everything!", the cook yelled after him. Everyone else laughed.

...

The next day, they finally reached Reverse Mountain.

"Nami, are you sure we have to go up that mountain?", Zoro asked. "Why don't we just sail down to the Grand Line?"

" ***Bonk!*** We can't sail down, idiot! If we sail down we'll land in the Calm Belt where sea kings will eat us!", the ginger yelled with sharp teeth, giving the marimo a bump on his head.

"S-sea kings? Eat us? I don't want to go to the Grand Line!", Usopp screamed, running around. Luffy gave Usopp a bump. "There are no sea kings in the Grand Line, and besides, we can't turn back now, Reverse Mountain is right in front of us."

And Luffy was right. Reverse Mountain was really right in front of them. They were sailing towards the stream leading up the mountain now. So Luffy asked his nakama one more time why they were going to the Grand Line.

"To become the world's greatest swordsman!"

"To draw a map of the world."

"To become a brave warrior of the sea."

"To find the All Blue."

"To become Pirate King!"

The Straw Hats were riding on the rapidly upwards flowing stream now. The Grand Line was only a minute away.

'Chopper, Robin, Franky, Brook, Jinbe. Wait for us, we're coming.'

* * *

 **Wow, just wow! Over 6000 words, that's just very much! I really hope you like this, because writing this was a pain in the ass. I included some flashbacks regarding Zoro and Kuina. Did you like it? Write it in the comments, as well as if I should do a ZoTash pairing. But the most important aspect of this chapter was Luffy and his father meeting. Was this what you liked the most? I'd like to know that. One more thing I'd like to point out is that I won't be covering fillers like Warship Island Arc, but the events do happen. Think of it like this: If this was a show, fillers like Warship Island Arc would happen, but off screen. As filler arcs do happen, Warship Island and Goat Island are Straw Hat territories (Choke on this, territory haters! :D). Constructive criticism allowed. Rate and review if you like.**


	9. C9: Laboon

**Never again!**

 **The East Blue Saga is over, it's time for the Grand Line! So many adventures will wait for the Straw Hats. I don't want to spoil much, but shit will go down in Marineford Arc, that's for sure. But that's far away now, we're just at the beginning. Sit back and enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**

* * *

 **Chapter 9: Laboon**

The Straw Hats reached the top of Reverse Mountain after a breathtaking ride. Now that they've reached the top, the ride down would be even faster and more thrilling. And it was true, their faces began fluttering and wobbling back like the one of a pilot starting in a hypersonic jet.

"UAAAAAAH, MY NOSE IS FLUTTERING BACK!", Usopp screamed, disadvantaged by his overly long nose.

"Quit whining, a fly just flew in my mouth!", Sanji moaned at him, coughing out both the fly and his cigarette.

"Guys, I don't want to interrupt you, but… look at that!", Nami fearfully spoke, pointing at a humongous whale with gruesome scars in front of them. The sea mammal blocked the exit of the stream.

'Laboon, good to see you, old pal. If I could speak your language, I'd tell you Brook is alive.', Luffy thought, remembering Brook's story about him, the whale.

"AAAAAAH! WE'RE GONNA COLLIDE, AND DIE!", Nami and Usopp screamed, holding each other, crying.

"Luffy, should I cut him away?", Zoro asked, literally meaning it.

"No, idiot! I'd never forgive you if you killed him!", the teenager angrily yelled with sharp teeth, giving his swordsman a second bump.

"Then what should we do? Nami-san said we'll die if the whale and us collide.", Sanji asked.

"I'm gonna hold him off, trust me. Nothing's going to happen to us or Merry.", their captain stated with a reassuring voice, sounding like a man of his word.

As the ship approached the whale, the risk of dying became greater.

"Luffy, do something!", the cowardly duo yelled, still holding each other and crying.

"Yosh! Gomu Gomu no Fuusen!"

The rubber man inflated himself to the point where he's bigger than Merry. His immense flexibility made it possible for his nakama to survive.

"Luffy, Luffy, Luffy!", they cheered, dancing to express their relief for living on.

'Hmm, wait a minute. When I punched him in the eye last time, he swallowed our ship and made it possible for us to meet Crocus and Vivi. If I don't punch him now, we won't meet them again. Guess I have to act stupid again.', the strawhat thought, thinking about the consequences if he played it smart and cool.

The 17-year-old subsequently punched the dark blue whale in the eye, just to be punched by his navigator. "You brainless moron! We just escaped death and now you're trying to kill us again!". His other nakama just facepalmed at their captain's stupid action.

Laboon reacted quick. His round, pacifistic eyes turned into angry, half-round eyes. He opened his mouth, which could easily swallow a warship. A single tooth was so big Usopp had to maneuver the ship so, that they don't crash in it and burst.

"Geppo!", Luffy shouted, running away in the air. He watched as a massive wave flushed his ship along with his nakama inside Laboon's mouth. 'Eh, I'll find another way to get inside, but I'll get you out of there, I swear!', the adventurous boy thought.

…

Inside Laboon, the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates were floating through the whale's endless seeming throat. One was calm, one was scared, two were mad.

"I can't believe he ditched us like that!", the ginger furiously exclaimed, clenching her fists.

"L-luffy's going to come and save us, r-right?", the black-haired asked, scared of the fact he might get digested.

"Don't worry, he's our captain, he'd never leave us alone like that.", the green-haired said, knowing Luffy's loyalty and care towards his nakama.

"Even if he's going to save us, when I see him again, I'll turn him into fricassee!", the blond angrily declared, lighting himself another one.

A short trip later, the four pirates found themselves in a strange place. The sky was blue and had clouds, there was seawater and even a small island with an old man living on it, but everything seemed so contained.

"Oi, old man, where the heck are we?", Zoro rudely demanded as Merry came closer to that island.

The old man with petals around his head lifted his gaze from the newspaper he was reading and stared intimidatingly at the Straw Hats, who really became intimidated.

"What's the problem, can I help you?", he asked, this time not intimidating at all.

Confusion befell the Straw Hats. 'What is with this old geezer?', they all thought.

"Err, where are we? Do you know that?", Zoro slowly and politely asked.

"You're inside Laboon."

"Laboon?". The Straw Hats were confused again. This man had a strange way of speaking.

"The whale occupying the entrance of the Grand Line."

"But why is his inside painted, and what's an island doing here?", Nami questioned.

"And who are you?", Zoro let out.

Once more, the old man started staring intimidatingly at the Straw Hats, who once more, became intimidated.

"If you want someone to tell his name, why don't you introduce yourselves first?", he unintimidatingly asked.

The pirates slowly became annoyed with him, yet maintained their patience.

"I'm Zoro."

"I'm Sanji."

"I'm Nami."

"And I'm Usopp."

"Good.", he spoke. "My name is Crocus, my birthday is on January 4th, my blood type is AB,…"

"Can I shut him up?!", Zoro yelled at his nakama with sharp teeth, touching his swords' hilts.

…

3 minutes earlier:

Luffy landed on Laboon's back after using 'Geppo'. He noticed a hatch on the whale's back. 'What does a hatch do on a whale's back? Nevermind, I'll get down there.'

The pirate opened the hatch and went down there, ending up in an artificial hallway made out of metal. 'I was in here once, but this is still strange. Metal in a whale, would that make Laboon a cyborg like Franky? I don't know, but let's explore!'

…

Present timeline:

Outside, Laboon decided to ram the Red Line again. He changed his posture, which felt like an earthquake for the people inside. Luffy for example lost his balance and was falling down, flying. Eventually, he would bump into two people inside the sea mammal, a very young blue-haired woman and a crown-wearing man, dragging them down with him.

Meanwhile, the remaining Straw Hats wondered what this 'earthquake' was. "Mr. Crocus, what is happening?", Nami demanded, almost as scared as when they rode down the stream on Reverse Mountain.

Crocus put his glasses in their place. "It's Laboon, he's ramming his head against the Red Line again. I've told him many times to stop that, but he doesn't listen. It's such a sad story."

Suddenly, three voices ringed in Crocus' and The Straw Hats' ears. Two were screaming, one was laughing. After 10 more seconds, the people screaming and laughing could be identified as they were coming closer, falling down from a hole in the "sky". The blue-haired girl fell on Sanji, the crown-wearing man on Zoro, and Luffy on Nami.

"That was fun!", the childish pirate exclaimed, grinning and holding his hands in the air.

The orange-haired girl pushed the strawhat off her and punched him in the head as she stood up. "Couldn't you've fallen somewhere else, idiot?"

"Ow! Sorry Nami…"

Crocus decided to climb on Merry for some reason.

Zoro objected this. "Who allowed you to get on Merry?", he spat as he threw off the man who fell on him shortly before. "AS WELL AS YOU TWO!"

"Sorry for not asking, but I can't stay here for long, Laboon is going to blow us out soon.", the elderly man explained.

"He's gonna what?"

Out of nowhere, the huge whale blew Merry and everyone on it out of his blowhole. The ship landed on the water, but Luffy was gone – again.

"Where's this fool now?", Nami asked, annoyed of her captain.

She turned her head around and saw him standing on the Red Line, which Laboon opted to hit. But then she noticed that not the Red Line was his target, but Luffy. The whale had't forgotten her captain's punch to his eye.

"LUFFY!", the navigator screamed, not wanting her nakama to get crushed by a creature weighting way more than 1000 elephants.

The 17-year-old knew when to stop the whale. "It's a draw!", he announced, making Laboon stop. "It's a draw for now, when I return, we'll have a rematch. Until then, please don't hit your head on the Red Line anymore, okay?"

Laboon thought this was a friendly promise, so he decided not to attack Luffy any further. Luffy at the same time, went back to his ship.

"Oi, old geezer, what's with the whale?", he asked, already knowing his backstory.

"It's Crocus, and since you've stopped Laboon from hurting himself any further, I'll tell you the whole story. 50 years ago, a Pirate Crew which befriended Laboon as a baby came over the Grand Line. I was keeper of the Twin Capes Lighthouse over there.", he explained, pointing at a light grey lighthouse. "But since Laboon was a baby and the Grand Line was too dangerous, they asked me to take care of him. For 50 years Laboon has waited for his friends, who are probably dead by now. I've told him many times that they won't come back, but he refused to listen to me, and rammed the Red Line with his head since then, which explains his scars. And now these two", he roared, pointing at crown guy and Vivi in disguise, "have come to kill Laboon for his meat. If I was you, I'd tie them up and hand them over to the Marines."

"First, we can't hand them over to the Marines, we're pirates and therefore criminals, they'd arrest us immediately. Second, sad story, I'll make Laboon stop hitting his head once and for all.", Luffy said, reassuring Crocus.

"You would? If you did that, I'd be happy for the rest of my life. Now that I'm old and don't have that much to live, Laboon means everything to me."

"Don't worry, I'll make him stop right now.", the boy promised the old man. "Usopp, get me some paint!"

"Paint? For what?"

"You'll see.", Luffy told, smiling widely.

"Okay Luffy, I'm on it!", Usopp said, running below deck.

About 30 seconds later, Usopp returned with some white, black, red, and straw-coloured paint. Luffy took the paint and made his way to Laboon's head.

…

5 minutes later, he drew a perfect copy of the Straw Hat Pirates' jolly roger, contrary to last time where he drew a bad copy. "This is the sign of our promise. It will vanish if you hit your head again.", he told Laboon, who eventually would never hurt himself, especially his head, again. Crocus and Luffy's nakama were impressed by his action.

"Thank you very much, I owe you much.", Crocus spoke out of his heart. "I'm giving you this Log Pose to thank you."

"No, we have to thank you, you made our journey a lot easier with that Log Pose.", the pirate captain said.

"Boy, you remind me of Gold Roger, I know that because I was on his ship."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Yes, I was on the Oro Jackson for three years as his doctor. I can tell that you resemble him quite well, even from your captain's coat."

"Well, thanks. I also want to become Pirate King.", Luffy stated, smiling proudly.

"Then I should not get in your way in travelling the Grand Line. Have fun, and make your dreams come true!", Crocus declared, bidding farewell.

Luffy returned to his nakama, setting sail. "Thank you old man, until next time!", the black-haired shouted, waving his hands.

Laboon let out a scream of joy, expressing his way of celebrating the new-found friendship between him and the future Pirate King. 'Goodbye Laboon, I'll tell Brook about you, he'll be happy to hear about you.'

…

Shortly after their leaving, Luffy sees Vivi and crown guy tied up on Merry. Sanji was trying to flirt with Vivi, who tried to dismiss the pervert in return.

"Why are those two here?", the strawhat asked, faking a bad mood.

A certain green-haired walked over to Luffy and the two Baroque agents. "We've taken them hostage, but if you want, we can just drop 'em into the sea."

"You can throw out crown guy, but not this sweet princess!", Sanji objected, defending the female hostage.

"Quit it Ero-cook, you just want to screw her, am I right or am I right?", the swordsman mocked the cook.

"What did you just say, Marimo?", Sanji snapped at Zoro, seriously annoyed by the latter's statement.

The two fighters of the Straw Hats started arguing, but Nami stopped them by an annoucement. "Guys, we're heading to Whiskey Peak, that's what the Log Pose says."

"You know how to read them?", Usopp curiously asked, surprised she can work with objects from the Grand Line.

"I'm a navigator Usopp, I knew about Log Poses since I was a child. Those things are essential for the Grand Line, since a normal compass doesn't work here."

"Erm, excuse me, but you said Whiskey Peak not long ago, right?", the blue-haired girl spoke. "Could you take us there with you?"

"Hold on a second!", Zoro objected. "We don't even know your names, yet you want us to take you with us?"

"Well, excuse me Sir, but you haven't given us the chance to introduce ourselves.", she commented like a spoiled brat. "My name is Miss Wednesday, and that is Mr. 9."

"These aren't even real names!", the swordsman snarled.

"Right, these are our codenames.", Mr. 9 informed him. "We work for an organization called Baroque Works, and if you hurt us, you'll be in great trouble, our boss doesn't let anyone get away with hurting his subordinates."

"Baroque Works? What is that?", Nami asked, getting aware of the tied up duo hiding something.

"Baroque Works is an organization that wants to create an ideal state. An ideal state, where everythin is perfact.", crown guy said.

"I was offered a job there, since I was considered the best swordsman of the East Blue, but I told them I'd only work for them if I was the leader, which they refused.", Zoro told. "Whatever the case, we cannot have you here, you might cause trouble, so-"

"Zoro," Luffy interrupted his first mate with a convincing voice, "how about this: We untie them and take them with us, but if they cause trouble, try to kill us or try to escape, we'll overpower and end them, okay?"

"Sounds good, captain.", he spoke, turning his head back to the agents. "If you try something wrong, I'll make you regret!"

After that, everyone turned back to their duties except Sanji, who was unsuccessfully flirting with Miss Wednesday AKA Vivi Nefeltari. Whiskey Peak wasn't far anymore.

* * *

 **So, that was it. Sorry if this chapter was short or boring, but I only do one arc or less in a chapter, even if it's the shortest arc in the entire series, which is the Reverse Mountain Arc, or even more simple, THIS arc right here. Next chapter/arc will be better. Peace!**


	10. C10: Meet Vivi, princess of Alabasta

**Never again!**

 **I know I'm repeating this, but sorry for the lameness of the last chapter, I'll make up for it with a new, good chapter. I'll include a new style of writing, the POV-style. Tell me if you like it, tell me if you don't. One more thing: If you think that some characters progress too much, tell me, I'd fix it. Hope you like it!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**

* * *

 **Chapter 10: Meet Vivi, princess of Alabasta**

After some time, the Straw Hats and their companions arrived at Whiskey Peak, located on Cactus Island. The citizens of Whiskey Peak looked happy and peaceful, trying to deceive the visitors with their looks, as they were all bounty hunters.

"Pirates are here, pirates are here!", some kids cheerfully yelled, running around.

"Ma-ma-maaaa- Welcome to Whiskey Peak, pirates, I'm Mayor Igarrappoi, always at your service.", a tall man with blond hair looking like a wig, later revealed to be Igaram, said.

'Yeah right Igaram, you can't fool me!', Luffy thought.

"Why are you so nice to pirates?", Nami sceptically asked. "We could rob you, or murder the entire village?"

The 'mayor' shed a tear and wiped it off with a blue towel. "We are nice to pirates because they are our best customers, they fill the city with money when they come."

'More like Crocodile's pocket.', the strawhat murmured in his head, shaking his head a little.

"How about we throw a party for you?", he asked. "I think you'd like that."

"Yes we would!", Luffy exclaimed, acting like a child in front of his nakama. "Come on guys, let's party!"

Nami and Zoro shrugged. They saw through the lie, but decided to go on not stopping their captain, although him tending to act childish at times.

…

Despite the later actions, the Straw Hats had fun partying. Sanji and Usopp flirted with Whiskey Peak's most beautiful women, Usopp rather telling stories, Sanji actually flirting. Zoro and Nami drank a lot, Nami only to win money in a drinking contest, and Luffy ate lots of meat, but less than before. He knew there were sleep-drugs inside.

Only the swordsman, the navigator and the captain of the crew faked their sleep. The cook and the sniper weren't informed about the trap. The swordsman was the first to wake up.

 _Zoro's POV_

I woke up at night, around 12 I think. Oh man, the party room was a mess, empty glasses, flipped chairs, and nobody else in there but me and my mates. The alcohol was still flowing through my body, yet I was able to put together what happened: Bounty hunters tricked us, trying to make us fall asleep, then steal our money and hand us over to the damn Marines.

'Doesn't work with me, amateurs! I've been a bounty hunter for years, you can't trick me with that!', I thought and grinned a little. My stupid captain and the other stupid blockheads would get caught, especially Sanji, that dumb good-for-nothing ero-cook. These hearts in his eyes and his lady-loving attitude were annoying me from the beginning.

'Whatever, I'll wake 'em up later, I'll check if the ship is still intact and there.'

…

I went to Merry and looked everything was at it's place, and we were lucky, not even Nami's treasure is gone. 'Nami you gold-digging orange-haired bitch, everything you care about is money. How about you show some compassion to someone else in your crew other than Luffy, just because he kicked Arlong's ass.'

Now that the ship was fine, I had to look after my nakama. They were defenseless in their sleep, and therefore an easy target. 'If I guarded the building where the party happened, nothing would happen to them.', I thought, trying to see the circumstances a little more positive.

I got on top of the building next to the building where my crew was sleeping, and I wasn't wrong. The case was just as I expected: Bounty hunters sneak up on us when we're asleep, then tie us up and get our bounties as result. 'Not with me, my friends, not with me!'

"Oi bounty hunters!", I yelled out, gaining the attention from all bounty hunters, maybe 100 or more. "You have to go through me first, before you touch my nakama!"

The bounty hunters weren't impressed. "You're alone and don't even have a bounty, better give up now!", they shouted, asking me to whoop their weak asses.

"Try me, Baroque Works!"

I wrapped my black bandana around my head, meaning I'm going all out. After that I only pulled two swords out of their sheath, Yubashiri and Sandai Kitetsu. I had to see what they're made of, without the help of Wado Ichimonji, and I remembered the words of my captain: _"From now on, to awaken your Observation haki you must fight with one or two swords, understand? I'm sure fighting with less swords helps you concentrate more against your opponents."_. I had to yet experience myself what Observation haki is, so I obeyed Luffy's command. Following that I closed my eyes, also just like Luffy said: " _And when you fight against weaker opponents, try to do this with your eyes closed, okay?"_

Shots came out of countless pistols and rifles, a dozen or more men with swords came at me. Inside my head, everything went in slow motion. 'Observation haki or whatever it is, I want you to awaken inside of me. Hell, I don't know if it works like that, but I want to defeat them all! Show me where the enemies are, so I can beat them without opening my eyes.'

Suddenly, I sensed the aura of the enemies, including their weapons, like swords or bullets. I don't know how this happened, but I took my chance to defeat them all! "Nitoryu: Taka Nami!"

I spinned around with my swords, creating a gust of wind. This knocked out everyone in close range, or half of them, at least that's what was projected in my mind. To check if that's true, I opened my eyes; they were really knocked out, but the auras of the ones still standing vanished. What the hell? I closed my eyes once more and concentrated a little, seeing their auras again. My conclusion is, that I can only use this Observation haki thing, when my eyes are closed. Strage, right?

Pistol shots were fired again. I cut them in half with my swords and charged at the ones shooting. To my surprise, Yubashiri and Sandai Kitetsu reacted differently while cutting my enemies. Yubashiri "only" cut the enemies, while Sandai Kitetsu literally tried to kill them. This sword had a powerful, murderous aura that had to be brought under control. No wonder it's cursed.

After slashing the weak bounty hunters, I noted 4 auras, slightly more powerful than the ones of the weaklings I've devastated shortly before. I opened my eyes to see who they were, losing sight of their auras. It was the mayor, the blue-haired girl, crown guy and a big black pink-haired muscular woman, who had dressed as a nun while partying with us. The two big-sized bounty hunters introduced themselves as Mr.8 and Miss Monday.

"You found out the truth and killed members of Baroque Works, you must die!", Miss Monday declared, grabbing a barrel to throw it at me.

I easily cut the barrel in four, rendering it useless. She then grabbed a ladder and swung it at me, only for me to dodge. Unfortunately, while I was dodging, she put a metal sheath onto her massive knuckles and punched me.

The pain I experienced from this punched almost made me scream out. Even from the feeling, I realized I had bruises in my face. Despite the pain, I grabbed her ugly face with an iron grip, pressing my fingests deeper and deeper into her skull. Not only did she scream because she was in pain, but also because she was overpowered by me, unbelievable! This went so far she actually fell unconscious after a single grab. Apperances can be deceiving, and that should be the ultimate proof.

"Who's next?", I confidently asked, wielding Sandai Kitetsu towards the remaining three Baroque agents. I knew I'd defeat them, there's no way I'd lose to those lowly weaklings, that would just dishonor Captain Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates.

Mr. 9, the biggest fool out of all of them, decided to attack me. "Nekketsu Nine Konjo Bat!", he yelled, trying to hit me with his two steel bats combined with his acrobatics. I easily blocked his bats, it's like he doesn't even try!

He tried the same attack again, at least that's what I thought. "Kattobase Shikomi Bat!", the annoying idiot shouted, suddenly launching two steel ropes out of his bats, binding my right arm with Sandai Kitetsu.

"What are you going to do now, huh?"

That idiot annoyed me, he annoyed me more than Helmeppo, that octopus-fishman, and even Johnny and Yosaku sometimes. I had to use an Ittoryu attack, although I wasn't that good in using only one sword, since I started out with two swords. I tried my luck and attacked. "Ittoryu Iai: Shishi Sonson!"

I placed Yubashiri horizontally in front of me, then rapidly unsheated it and slashed him in an even greater speed, then resheating it again. He collapsed in seconds, which was such a satisfying moment for me.

"Mr. 9!", this blue-haired girl hysterically screamed. Why is she even caring for him?

"Nobody is hurting my partner! Mr. 8, help me bringing down this mosshead!"

"Yes, Miss Wednesday, I'll help you!", the mayor said, getting out a saxophone.

'What does this guy want with a freaking saxophone?', I wondered, soon to be taken by surprise.

"Igarappa!". Mr. 8 played his saxophone, and bullets came out. "What the fucking hell?!", I exclaimed, trying to evade the bullets.

Suddenly, Miss Wednesday cowardly attacked me with her peacock slashers while I was distracted. "Kujakki Slasher!"

I managed to dodge both the peacock slashers and the saxophone bullets. Seeing how I was a better fighter, they decided to attack even harder, as well as calling help, which was that girl's case. She called an odd bird named Carue to ride on him.

"Igarappappa!". Saxophone guy revealed machine guns hidden in the curls of his hair and started shooting again, this time with more and faster bullets.

And as if that wasn't enough, that girl on top of this running bird attacked me with longer and sharper peacock slashers. "Kujakki String Slasher!"

I closed my eyes to use my newly awakened Observation haki to help me dodge the enemy attacks. I actually dodged and repelled the bullets, but a small part of the peacock slashers sliced up a piece of my arm. Blood poored out of the wound and it hurt a bit, but my determination to win only increased.

That was it. I unsheated Wado Ichimonji for a Santoryu attack. My patience wore thin already, but it disppeared completely a second ago. "Santoryu: Toro Nagashi!"

I spinned around to slash both Mr. 8 and Miss Wednesday, but Mr. 8 jumped in front of her like he was her bodyguard. He received 3 big slashes on his torso, ripping up his suit. "Run, princess, I can't fight him!", he powerlessly moaned.

This caught my attention. 'A princess? Her? That can't be, he must be joking!'.

As much as I didn't want to believe that, I questioned the bounty hunter mayor about what he said. "What are you talking about? Princess, her? What is this, answer me!"

The man sighed in pain. The supposed princess leaned over her savior. "Igaram, don't die!"

"Don't worry Princess Vivi, I won't die.", he reassured her, coughing, before turning to me. "I'm going to tell you the whole story, *cough*. Princess Vivi of Alabasta and I, captain of the Alabast royal guard, infiltrated Baroque Works to find out their true goal. After a lot of spying, we've found out they want to take over the kingdom of Alabasta to create an 'ideal state'."

"So you are admitting it!", a calm voice from behind snarled.

I turned around to see two people coming towards us, one of them being a dark-skinned man with black, short dreadlock wearing a brown trench coat and sunglasses, the other one being a young woman with short blond hair, her overall clothing and accessoires looking like lemons.

"Kyahahahaha, traitors get punished!", the woman laughed.

I closed my eyes to judge them by the power their auras display. Comes out they're significantly stronger than those two I've beaten right now. "Who are you?", I asked, trying to sound threatening.

The man stepped further forward. "I am Mr. 5 and this is my partner Miss Valentine. We've been ordered by our boss, Mr. 0, to find and kill the infiltrators, who turn out to be Miss Wednesday AKA Princess Vivi Nefeltari of Alabasta, and Mr. 8 AKA Igaram, her bodyguard. If you don't want trouble, back off now!", he answered, attempting to threaten me, hopelessly however, since I'd never run from a battle.

Igaram then pulled my pants with his hand, telling me to turn to him. I did so to hear what he had to say to me. "Pleeease *cough*, help the princess, I'm begging you!"

I was speechless. What was he thinking? Not long ago they tried to kill me, and now he wants me to help this princess? Outrageous!

"First you try to kill me and then you want me to help her?", I yelled at him with sharp teeth.

"But-", he began, almost crying, before I cut him off. I calmed down a little.

"As much as I loathe you AND the princess, it's the choice of the captain. He decides if we save you or not."

"Thanks Zoro, thank you for not acting first."

That was Luffy's voice! I turned to the direction where the sound came from and stared at what I saw in disbelief: Luffy and Nami were sitting on a bench, awake and alive. I couldn't help but shout. "WHAAAAAAA-"

 _Nobody's POV_

Luffy laughed at his swordsman. "Hahaha, you're funny Zoro, did you think you're the only one who didn't fall for the trap? I've been watching you from the beginning, along with Nami. Congratulations for awakening your Observation haki, you did it sooner than I expected, now you only need to learn how to control it."

Zoro wanted to yell at his captain for taking him for a fool and thank him for appreciating his newfound skill at the same time, but Nami walked up to him and screamed before he could open his mouth. "Zoro, if my treasure is not on the ship, I'll use you as a punching bag!"

The green-haired flinched and stepped back two times. He knew she wasn't joking when it comes to money. "D-don't worry, your treasure is still there, there's no need to get angry!"

The ginger sighed. She turned to Princess Vivi. "How about a deal? For 1 Billion Berry, we'll protect you and get you back to your kingdom, how does this sound?"

"One Billion Berry, are you crazy?", the blue-haired princess yelled with sharp teeth.

"We'll do it for free."

This came out of Luffy's mouth. Nami turned her head to him like a robot, slowly and without an expression. She slowly walked over to him and punched him with superhuman speed, giving him a bump as big as his head. "YOU STUPID IDIOT! EITHER SHE'LL PAY ME ONE BILLION OR YOU WILL!"

The pirate captain lifted his head. "Forget it Nami, I won't pay you anything!", he shouted, starting an argument with his navigator.

Mr. 5 grew annoyed on the Straw Hats and interrupted their argument. "Listen, if you decide to protect the princess, you become an enemy of Baroque Works, and our boss is known for being merciless to his enemies. Think about it before you risk your life."

While Nami got scared at first, Luffy looked confident. His answer was clear. "I've made up my mind, and nothing can stop me. If your boss comes to hunt us down, I'll kick his ass!"

Vivi and Igaram stared at the 17-year-old in disbelief. He, assumed by them, didn't know the leader of Baroque Works yet dared to fight him. Mr. 5's and Miss Valentine's faces gained a serious look. "Good, then we'll have to eliminate you too."

Luffy crackled his fists. "I have a bounty of 80 Million Berry, if you think you can eliminate us, then you're making a big mistake.", he declared, making Miss Valentine twitch a bit.

"Mr. 5, what should we do?", an insecure female Baroque agent asked her partner, who responded with: "Easy, I'll blow them up!"

The black Baroque agent picked his nose and pulled out a booger, much to the disgust of the spectators. He then flicked it at the 80 Million Berry man. "Nose Fancy Cannon!"

Luffy countered with stretching his Armament haki-covered arm out towards the booger. The piece of dried nasal mucus exploded upon impact, leading to the confusion of the swordsman and the navigator.

"I ate the Bomu Bomu no mi, I'm a bomb man. I can explode all of my body parts.", he stated.

"That's right, and I ate the Kilo Kilo no mi, I can change my weight from 1 Kilo to 10000 Kilo.", she added.

"Sounds pretty lame to me.", the teenager said, pissing off the Baroque agents.

Mr. 5 frowned, staying calm. "Watch your mouth, you wouldn't like getting blown to pieces, would you?"

"Kyahahaha, as well as getting stomped into the ground."

Luffy put his hat off and walked forward a few steps. "Try your best, I dare you!". The young pirate managed to impress everyone with his courage, especially Vivi and Igaram.

Mr. 5 and his partner didn't hesitate. "Nose Fancy Double Cannon!", he shouted, flicking two explosive boogers at the same time. Meanwhile, Miss Valentine attacked with '10,000 Kilo Press', where she levitated into the air by making herself weight only 1 Kilo, then rapidly increasing her weight to 10 tons. The strawhat just stood there, scaring the crap out of Nami and the Alabastans. He waited for the right moment, where he would activate his defense. "Armament."

Miss Valentine landed on his haki-covered head, breaking her high heels, then complaining about it. Mr. 5's booger bombs hit Luffy's chest, yet made zero damage. He heard the agent curse. Not knowing what haki is, the princess and her bodyguard got scared and impressed by the boy's strength and black skin, especially his black skin.

Now it was Luffy's turn to attack, but due to his immense advantage, he let his first mate deal with them. "Zoro, I want you to finish them, you can use three swords and keep your eyes open."

Hearing his permission to use Santoryu from his captain was like music in his ears. He quickly unsheated Wado Ichimonji, Sandai Kitetsu and Yubashiri, to attack Mr. 5. The latter only watched the swordsman run at him. "You do realize you'll explode with me if you hit me? My whole body is a bomb."

Zoro just shook his head. "Not with this attack, pal. Santoryu: Tatsu Maki!"

The green-haired created a tornado with sharp compressed air projectiles, which hit the Baroque agent in the distance, without Zoro hurting himself. The bomb man exploded, fainting after that strong attack and his body reaction.

Miss Valentine was shocked. Her partner was brought down by an unnamed pirate, or at least that's what she thought. "Mr. 5!", she loudly exclaimed, caring for her partner. The walking lemon then turned to the man who bested her partner. "You will pay for what you did to him! 10,000 Kilo Guillotine!", the female shouted, doing exactly what she did before, only stretching out her leg.

Zoro closed his eyes. Once again, everything was moving slowly in his head. He concentrated, and focused on Miss Valentine's aura after the green-haired located it. 'I might be a beginner in haki, but I can definitely do this!'. He waited for the right moment and dodged, by rolling to the side on the floor. After crashing into the ground made of stone and dried dirt, the Baroque agent let out a loud scream fueled by pain, before passing out.

This scream was loud enough to wake up Usopp and Sanji, who came out of the building a minute later, groggy.

Usopp saw the unconscious bodies of everybody, and asked what happened. Sanji on the other hand, only had eyes for Miss Valentine's body. Seeing how Zoro was the only one close to her, he figured the green-haired was the reason this 'beautiful mademoiselle' was hurt.

"What the hell, Marimo, you hurt this beautiful mademoiselle! I will not allow any man to hurt a lady! Poitrine Shoot!", Sanji yelled, straight up attacking Zoro, aiming for his chest.

The swordsman became furious at this and blocked his nakama's kick with his swords. His face turned red and his teeth sharp. "You stupid fucking useless good-for-nothing cook, I worked my ass off to save us all, then you attack me for finishing off our enemy? Ungrateful bastard, that was so expectable from you!". His fury was kind of justified.

The cook clenched his teeth. "Enemy or not, anybody who dares to hit a woman is dead in my eyes!", he called, trying to hit his friendly rival's left hip.

Zoro blocked it again. His attitude changed from burning anger to mockery. "That's why you'll probably die by a woman one day, not that it matters me, Curly Brows!"

Before either of them could continue their minor clash, Nami stepped in and punched both of them on their heads. "Quiet, you! The princess is gonna tell something!"

The two fighters of the Straw Hats stood up, one with an annoyed face, the other one with a heart-eyed face in love. "You are a princess?! Oh Princess-chan, let me be your guardener, I'll be at your service whenever you want."

Vivi looked at the cook for a second. 'Is that guy serious?!', she thought, then shaking her head to focus again. "Okay, I don't know what kind of pirates you are, but listen closely, I'm going to tell you everything from the beginning.", she began, being interrupted by Sanji shortly after.

"Princess-chwan, you're so pretty when you're serious!", he raved, moving slippery like an eel.

The royal just sighed. "I am from the kingdom of Alabasta, not far from here. An evil organization called Baroque works is secretly trying to take over my country by triggering a rebellion against the king. They claim they want to create a perfect state where everybody has a higher social status, but that's a lie. I've never believed them anyway, so Igaram and I infiltrated this organization, and we were right. The true goal of Baroque works is to make their leader the new king.", she explained, the others upset by this organization's true goals.

"How mean!", Usopp spoke, slamming his fist into his palm.

"We've infiltrated the organization and found out how the system works. The highest ranking officers are always paired. Due to security measures to keep the organization secret, each member has a codename. The male member of a pair has a number as his codename, the female member a day. The higher the rank, the lower the number, with the leader being Mr. 0. Then there are the henchmen, the Millions and Billions. Luckily, Igaram and I managed to get a higher rank, which allowed me to find out who the leader of Baroque works is. It's Sir Crocodile, one of the Shichibukai.", the bluenette continued, inflicting fear in the weakling duo.

"A-a Shichibukai?", the navigator exclaimed, shuddering and putting her hand in front of her mouth.

"L-like the one who almost cut through Zoro's gut?", the skilled sharpshooter added, also shuddering, but not as much as his female nakama.

"Yes. Sir Crocodile… there's nothing good to say about him, he's a devil who has killed almost as many people as there's sand in the desert, that's why he has a bounty of 81 Million Berry. He's ruthless, unscrupulous, and every other word that describes him. A monster who will go over countless bodies to get what he wants, many of my people will die because of him if we don't stop him.", Vivi spat, expressing her abhorrance towards Crocodile.

"Ei-eighty one Million Berry?!", the orange-haired exclaimed again, trembling like an earthquake.

Sometimes, Luffy was really annoyed with Nami's anxiety. His bounty was almost as high as Crocodile's, yet she still shivered like someone on the North Pole, considering bounties around this range are nothing compared to the ones of people like Jack or Katakuri. 'I wonder if she'll always stay like this', he thought, before continuing to listen to his future temporary nakama.

"I know it's much for me to ask this, but will you help me save my country? I already asked your captain, he said yes, but what about you? Please, I don't want my people to die!", the caring princess begged, addressing the other Straw Hats.

Zoro didn't want to at first. He still held a grudge on her. "Why should I help you?", he asked. "You tried to kill me, then you didn't even apologize."

Vivi started to slowly comprehend her wrongdoing. "I'm sorry, really sorry, I didn't trust you back then, please forgive me!", the blue-haired apologized on her knees.

The green-haired sighed. "Fine.", he muttered, emotionless. "But only because Luffy would want me to forgive you."

She gasped in relief. "And what about you?", the girl asked Nami, Usopp and Sanji.

The stingy ginger looked at her with a face saying 'only under one condition.'. "Okay, 1 Billion Berry is maybe too much, but I want 500 Million in return for helping you.", the 18-year-old declared.

Vivi looked at her fellow female with, sweating a bit. "Err, Alabasta is currently suffering heavy droughts, the economy is not very good right now, and I repeat, the kingdom is on the verge of a civil war, but after you stop them, you can have some gold or jewels, Alabasta has lots of them.", the royal stated, somewhat annoyed with the greedy girl, still not expressing it.

Nami's eyes turned to Berry signs. "I'm helping you!"

'Now that was a short answer!', Vivi thought, not irritated at all.

"And I'm also helping you, I'm the great Captain Usopp!", Usopp spoke, making his typical 'Captain Usopp' pose.

"I'm also helping you, Princess-chwan!", Sanji raved. The way he was moving was the weirdest thing the Alabastan had ever seen.

"You can call me Vivi from now on.", she said, sweatdropping.

"Okay Vivi-chan!"

Meanwhile, Igaram got back on his feet, knocking dust off his suit. He cleared his throat before he spoke. "Ma-ma-maaa- Listen everyone, I have a plan.", he began with a serious voice, getting everyone's attention. "I will dress up as Princess Vivi, and escape with my ship. This way I'll try to lead away potential threats and enemies, why you'll safely escort Princess Vivi to Alabasta, understand?"

The Straw Hats nodded in agreement and Luffy spoke up. "Yosh, it's settled then. Let's go!"

…

Luffy's POV

We set sail at sunrise, leaving Cactus Island behind. Our Log Pose would lead us to Little Garden. 'Ah, memories'.

Our relationship with Vivi improved a little. We told her our names, introduced ourselves, and stuff like that. I think she liked us a little after an hour or so, even though we, the boys, tried to eat her super spot-billed duck. Nami and her hit us on our heads, but man, I'd like to eat one of them one day.

Suddenly, in the far, Igaram's ship exploded. Vivi watched in tears, she cried like the first time her servant "died", kinda like Sabo. I used my Observation haki just to be sure, and he was alive, just like I expected him to be. Shortly after that, a familiar intruder appeared on our ship, sitting on the railing.

"Why hello there, Princess Vivi. I see you're with pirates now, interesting.". The female spoke with such a calm and elegant voice, my heart beat faster. Probably the same with Zoro, maybe Usopp, and especially Sanji.

Our new friend certainly wasn't happy about her presence. She clenched her fists and veins popped up on her wrists and upper face. "You killed Igaram!", she snapped at her.

"Maybe I killed him, maybe not."

Her voice was playful, playful and attracting. As expected, our perverted chef was the first to fall for her. Who could have blamed him though, her purple clothes were pretty revealing, her light desert tan, shiny black hair and dark blue eyes were beyond beautiful.

"My my, what does a beautiful lady like you want on a pirate ship?", he politely asked, trying to charm her. He offered her fancy looking smoothie-ice cream in a martini glass, a straw pipe placed in it.

The raven-haired took a sip out of Sanji's creation and complimented him, making him LITERALLY melt. Zoro, showing signs of getting attracted, decided to ask her her name. "Who are you, and for what purpose are you here?"

My future nakama got down from the railing. "I'm Miss All Sunday, and don't worry, I'm free from all orders right now, I'm just enjoying my free time.", she said, turning her attention to Vivi. "Princess, would you like to tell me your friends who I am?"

The bluenette stood there still, scared of her enemy. "She's, she's Crocodile's partner!", Vivi stammered, trying to hold back a flow of anger.

"So you found out the boss' name.", the tanned woman ironically complimented. "Congratulations, but may I remind you it was me who let you find out his real identity? I did you a favor, but in return I told Crocodile who the infiltrators were. Doesn't this seem fair?"

"You are the reason Igaram died… YOU ARE THE REASON IGARAM DIED!"

Wow! I completely forgot how angry Vivi can get sometimes. If I was in her case, I'd get too. Then I noticed how Vivi cried, sniveling. Technically, she was my nakama, even if temporary. Normally, I'd have to make my future nakama pay for making my current nakama cry, but I made an exception, considering Igaram wasn't dead.

"'Straw Hat' Luffy, dead or alive, 80 Million Berry.", the blue-eyed remarked, seeing my wanted poster. "Impressive first bounty, how old are you, boy? It's obvious you're the captain, judging by your beautiful captain's coat and your straw hat."

'She asked me what my age is, now we're getting closer.', I thought, opting to keep up the conversation. "I'm 17."

Miss All Sunday grabbed my straw hat with her devil fruit powers and put it on her head, replacing it with her cowboy hat she gave me in return. Everyone else stared at her in disbelief, surprised by her creepy-seeming ability. I grabbed her hat and stretched my arm out to switch hats again. "Sorry, the straw hat is all mine."

This made her curious, for sure! "Oh, a devil fruit user. What fruit did you eat?", she asked, playful as always.

"Gomu Gomu no mi, I'm a rubber man. What fruit did you eat, yours seems a lot more interesting than mine."

She giggled lightly, showing her amusement in our conversation. "The Hana Hana no mi, I can sprout body parts from the surface of any living thing or object. Sounds creepy, right?"

I shrugged. "Nah, not really."

The others just watched us, probably thinking 'How can Luffy and her have such a peaceful conversation? They're enemies!'. I am, in fact, extremely amused by this. My 'enemy' said something again.

"I like you, you're an interesting boy, and an even more interesting person."

That was nice to hear from her. I can now understand her better, since my soul is 29, whereas my body is 17, which makes me biologically 17 and spiritually 29.

"I like you too, considering we're enemies.", I replied. Gosh, what a monotone conversation, I would've slept in if I hadn't matured.

The Oharan smiled once more, tossing me an Eternal Pose. "This is an Eternal Pose to Nanimonai Island. A closer island to Alabasta doesn't exist, take it as a gift from me.", she spoke, deciding to help us a little.

Without thinking twice, I tossed it back. "Sorry, I'm the captain of this ship so I decide where we're going. Nobody tells me where we're going, except my navigator. Besides, I really want to visit Little Garden."

The raven-haired beauty smirked. "Good. I'm leaving, but I warn you, a Log Pose needs one year to recharge on Little Garden.". Her warning was definitely meant good, possibly even realized by the others, except Sanji, who still had nothing but perverted thoughts in his head.

"I have a feeling this won't be the last time we see each other.", I forecasted, which would 1000% come true.

"I feel it too.". With that, she disappeared like a flash.

'Our reunion was better than I have imagined, my dear archaeologist. After I get Chopper and kick Croccy's ass, you'll join my crew and be my nakama, _Nico Robin._ '

...

Just a little later, I walked over to Vivi, who was still sniveling about Igaram's 'death'. _"Igaram isn't dead."_ , I whispered into her ear. Judging by her look, she believed me and was very happy about that revelation.

"Thank you."

I almost cackled at that, but managed to control myself in the last second. "Don't thank me for not letting Igaram die, thank Miss All Sunday."

Her expression after that was priceless.

 _Nobody's POV_

The Straw Hats got closer and closer to Little Garden, where undescribeable adventures would wait for them.

* * *

 **How did you like this slighly different chapter? Should I continue with POV-style, or should I leave it? Regarding Zoro's haki, was it too early? I don't intend to give the Straw Hats haki too fast, Armament haki will be obtained by them MUCH later in the series, don't worry. And also, a key point in my story is LuffyxRobin or LuRo, do you like it? Leave it in the comments. Constructive criticism allowed. Rate and review if you like.**


	11. C11: The Greatest Warriors in the World

**Never again!**

 **We're slowly reaching Alabasta, yay! I've re-read the last chapter, and noticed that Zoro is extremely cold to Vivi, should I change it? (No ZoVi of course!). Some of you said you don't like the POV-style, so I won't continue it. Do you agree with my ideas or decisions? Reply so I can see it.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**

* * *

 **Chapter 11: The Greatest Warriors in the World**

The Straw Hats arrived in Little Garden after a long journey. The prehistoric island was a green jungle with multiple volcanoes and two mountain-like structures, which were really skulls of Sea Kings. Dinosaurs and other big and intimidating carnivores inhabited this island, as well as deadly viruses. There was a river in one end of the island, where they would dock.

"SCREEEECH!"

An overgrown bird came flying at the Straw Hats, scaring the weaklings. Nami and Usopp flinched and covered their ears. Sanji found one of them cute. "Ohhh, how sweet!"

Usopp turned around with big, cute eyes. "Do you mean me?", he naively asked.

"OF COURSE NOT, IDIOT!", the ero-cook shouted with sharp teeth, annoyed.

The bird of earlier turned around in a small curve, trying to elsewhere. The glutton Luffy was hungry and wouldn't have allowed "meat" to escape anyway, so he caught the bird and killed it. "Gomu gomu no propeller!", he exclaimed, slamming the dead bird on the deck of Merry. "Sanji! I want meat!"

Sanji frowned at this. "Luffy, you just ate like minutes ago, I can't cook 24/7.", he berated his captain, who looked at him with sad eyes.

"PLEEEEEEAAAASE!"

The cook sighed. "No Luffy, no more food for you until we leave. Our supplies are about to deplete, we need to restock."

Luffy looked at Sanji as if the latter was mentally challenged. "We can still eat Emergency Supply, you know?", he said, pointing at Carue.

Vivi's pet realized he was meant, and hid behind his owner. Vivi herself wasn't pleased at all with the duck's nickname. "You will not eat Carue!", she yelled with sharp teeth, hitting the 17-year-old and subsequently giving him a bump.

"Sorry Vivi…"

He then recovered and started giving orders. "Alright, if we don't have anything to eat, then we have to get some food! Zoro, Sanji, hunt some food for us, we need to restock. Everyone else, do whatever you want, I'm going on an adventure."

A loud rumble erupted somewhere in the tropical island, presumably an active volcano. The others wondered how their captain could go on an adventure on such a deadly hellhole.

"Luffy,", Nami spoke up with a slightly scared voice, "how can you go on an adventure right now, don't you see that this place is deadly beyond imagination? What if a dinosaur attacks you, what if you get bitten by a deadly insect?". Her being scared could be reasoned with the hungry tiger standing meters away from her on the edge of the river and the ground. Not only that, the beast also glared at the ginger with his yellow/golden eyes and licked the area around his mouth, further expressing his desire of eating the human.

"You know what", Luffy began, knocking dust off his golden shoulder pads, "that's not going to happen!"

The young pirate's eyes looked like he was using King's haki, strong and willing. Like the predator hunting his prey. Coincidentally, he punched the wild cat with his arm, using 'Gomu gomu no pistol', knocking it out.

Suddenly, the Alabastan felt safety around the black-haired. Somehow, she thought it would be safe around the black-haired. 'I don't know why, but I WANT to go with him, I think he could protect me.', she thought, her mind made up.

"Luffy-san, can Carue and I join your adventure?", the princess asked, shocking the others.

"WHAAAAAAT!?", most Straw Hats exclaimed, their jaws down, wondering how she could have such a weird idea.

"Vivi, you asked us to protect you, yet you want to go with our captain who attracts all kinds of danger?", her female friend asked, not believing what she just said.

"Yeah, stay with me Vivi-chan!", Sanji said, further making the people around him believe he's immature.

"No.", the blue-haired shyly yet determinedly declared, sweating a little combined with a stern look. "I feel safety around Luffy, I don't think he'd endanger me. I somehow get the impression he knows what he's doing, besides, it has been a long time since the last time I had fun."

The black-haired smiled brightly. "Thank you for deciding to come with me, I will appreciate your company.", he spoke, reaching out his arm for Vivi to come with him.

She blushed a little, holding his hand to go. The blond cook on the other hand, was fuming out of jealousy. Despite this he refused to kick in his captain's face. "Damn Strawhat!", he cursed, almost unhearable.

Running off with Vivi and Carue, Luffy shouted some last things to his meat provider and swordsman. "Zoro, Sanji, I want some meat when we set sail, so better get going!"

Zoro nodded, while Sanji cursed another thing after him. Sometimes, the captain really pissed off the smoker.

The green-haired walked off the ship. "I'm going to hunt the biggest moving thing for Luffy.", he stated as he stepped on the grass of Little Garden. "You cook for him, Curlybrows."

A tick mark formed on Sanji's forehead after hearing this. He saw this as a degradation and felt obligated to challenge his friendly rival. "What did you just say, Marimo? I will be the one who hunts the bigger animal, not you."

Zoro turned around, not taking the cook's challenge seriously. "You wish! You're only the cook, not a real fighter like me!", he snickered, not realizing he's seriously mocking the blond.

"A real fighter, don't make me laugh! You're nothing without your swords, you can't fight with your own body.", the fighting cook erupted, raising the sound of his voice.

"Alright, I'll show you I can hunt the bigger animal without my swords, you'll see, Shitty Cook!", the swordsman furiously declared, tensing his muscles.

"Challenge accepted!"

The two ran into different directions, going for the biggest eatable thing they could possibly find, leaving Usopp and Nami behind. Those two didn't know what they should do.

"How about we hide inside?", the navigator asked, not wanting to experience the possible dangers of Little Garden.

"Well, I want to go back inside too, but this place seems interesting, so I might go out for a walk not far from here.", the sniper said, a little braver than his nakama.

"Are you crazy?", the ginger exclaimed, staring at him in disbelief.

The black-haired frowned. "You can stay here if you want, I'll return soon.", he spoke, heading for the exit.

Nami waited a bit. She thought the darker-skinned boy was crazy, for leaving the safety of Merry regarding his power level. He was not strong enough to face the dangers of this crazy jungle. As the sharpshooter went away further and further into the evergreen forest, the orange-haired decided to run after him. "Wait, don't leave me alone!"

…

Luffy and Vivi ran through the jungle along with Carue. The princess loved this island, since she'd never seen such beautiful flowers and trees. Everything was wonderful for her – until she saw dinosaurs. Although these dinosaurs were plant-eaters, they scared the heck out of her, due to their massive size. She couldn't understand how Luffy was swinging around their long necks and sliding down them all the way down from their heads, considering a fall from up there would be deadly for a normal human.

"Vivi, come up here, this is fun!", the 17-year-old joyfully yelled, sliding down the neck of the largest sauropod.

"Like hell I will!", the girl yelled back with shark teeth. "Stop this nonsense, let's go somewhere else!"

Luffy sighed. "Fine, if you want."

The duo and the duck entered deeper into the rainforest, seeing some more big animals and plants, but two of the tree didn't expect meeting one of the biggest creatures in the world, a giant.

The giant was more than 39 foot tall and had an extremely long beard, which was colored brown, just like his hair. On top of his hair, he wore a golden helmet. His clothing consisted of a blue cape, green trousers, dark brown boots and a brown belt-like piece of protection with metal plates around his belly. His overall build was muscular.

Vivi wanted to scream, she wanted to run away. But she froze, her knees were shaking and she couldn't run. The royal thought running away from him, the giant, would be an insult to him, and she didn't want to insult him, since the Alabastan was scared of the warrior.

At the same time, the giant walked over to their spot and kindly greeted them. "Gegyagyagyagya! Hello there humans, I am Dorry, the mightiest warrior of Elbaf."

Luffy beamed at the 39-foot man. "Cool, the mightiest warrior of Elbaf! And I am Monkey D. Luffy, a pirate.", he exclaimed, greatly admiring giants.

"Gegyagyagyagya! I've been a pirate too, but now I'm living on this island, for 100 years, can you imagine that? There's another giant named Brogy on this island, we've been battling on this island for 100 years.", the ex-pirate said, sitting down.

The bluenette didn't know what to say about this. 'Battling for 100 years? For what purpose?!', she thought, trying to find a reasonable explanation for this.

Dorry stood up again. "Are you hungry? We can continue talking after eating some good stuff.", the giant asked, inviting the three.

"Yes, I am so hungry I could eat this island!", the human boy exclaimed, drooling a little.

"Gegyagyagyagya! Then come with me, I take you to my place."

…

At Dorry's place, Luffy and said giant consumed multiple dinosaurs of different type. Vivi and Carue only ate smaller pieces. The latter two also introduced themselves to Dorry.

"I have a question, how can you two battle for 100 years, and why did you battle in the first place?", the female questioned, not believing she'd get a reasonable answer.

"We giants can battle for 100 years since we live three times longer than humans.", he answered. "100 years ago, Brogy and I had an argument, so we decided to finish it with a duel. There's a rule in Elbaf, where we came from. If a giant duels another giant, they have to leave Elbaf and fight a battle to the death. Only one can return, the other one dies. That was the reason we're fighting a battle to the death until now, but after all these years, I forgot what the original reason was."

Suddenly, another volcano of Little Garden erupted, for Dorry to stand up. "This is our signal to fight, I must leave now.", he informed, grabbing his sword and shield.

"Good luck!", the teen shouted supportively after him.

"Gegyagyagyagya, thanks!"

After the giant had left the humans behind, the princess noticed that her pet was missing. "Carue?"

She ran into the forest to find her super spot-billed duck. "CARUE!"

…

 _30 minutes ago:_

The Baroque agent Mr.3, also known as Galdino, invited his fellow agents Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine into his wax house created by his Doru Doru powers. They had to carry out a mission and didn't want to fail.

"Thank you for coming by, I have orders from Mr. 0. Capture Princess Vivi and eliminate the Straw Hats.", Mr. 3 said, drinking his tea.

Miss Valentine raised her left brow. "Do you think that's easy?", she spoke. "We struggled greatly against them in Whiskey Peak, how are we supposed to eliminate them?"

"You better have a good plan on how we accomplish our mission, 3!", Mr. 5 said, calmly as always.

"Please, I always have a good plan.", Galdino stated, boasting about his good plans. "You two seperate Princess Vivi from the Straw Hats by kidnapping her duck. She will choose to come with you in exchange of that thing, trust me. Meanwhile, I'll try to seperate the Straw Hats one by one, catching them off guard, understand?"

The Mr. 5 pair nodded. "Understand."

…

 _15 minutes ago:_

Zoro was walking through the woods to find a bigger target. He had slain a big tiger, but that wasn't enough. After some more walking, the swordsman encountered a rhinoceros. 'I promised that Shitty Cook not to use my swords, what should I do?', he thought.

The grey mammal started to run at the green-haired, who figured out what to use. "Tekkai!"

Tekkai depended on physical strength, and since the green-haired already had immense muscle power, the rhino collapsed upon impact, breaking his horn.

"Well, that was easy.", he muttered, pulling the animal behind him

…

At the same time, Sanji was hunting too. He left his previously defeated boar behind him. A Tyrannosaur got in his way while running. The reptile subsequently opened his mouth, making his fangs visible.

Sanji knew the dinosaur would try to eat him, so he had to take action. "Tekkai! Poitrine!"

Normally, a person can't move while using Tekkai, but if the user is a martial arts master or a special fighter, he can move, despite the hardened body. For this reason, the fighting cook was able to kill the carnivore with only one kick.

"Seems like I've already won, I'd like to see what Marimo has to offer.", the blond said, lighting up a cigarette.

…

Usopp and Nami weren't as lucky as the others. Due to their missing strength, the two were forced to run away from a tiger, and later forced to run away WITH the tiger from a raptor.

"AAAAAAAH! SOMEBODY SAVE US!", both of them screamed, running for their lives.

They heard a roar and the sound of a cut. The two turned around to see what happened, and they were really shocked with what they saw. A giant with a viking-look saved them by dropping his gigantic axe on the dinosaur, cutting it in half. None of them could explain the sight of a giant warrior, and because of their cowardly nature, the navigator and the sniper fainted.

…

 _10 minutes ago:_

Usopp's head pounded. A deep, blurry voice got into his ears. "Wake up, wake up!". He opened his eyes, groaning. What he saw was the same giant from before. "Is this a dream?", the long-nosed muttered, closing his eyes again. "No, it's not a dream."

The sharpshooter opened his eyes again, realizing the giant is real and he's not dreaming. "Don't worry human, I will not harm you.", he reassured him. "My name is Brogy, I am Elbaf's greatest warrior."

Hearing the friendly viking's words, Usopp began losing his fear of giants. "I-I'm happy to hear that, Brogy-san.", he said. "I'm Captain Usopp."

Brogy pulled out a piece of dinosaur meat from the fire he had set, offering the human some of his meat. "I LOVE this kind of meat, you should try it."

Water filled Usopp's mouth. "Thanks a lot, Brogy-san."

At the same time, Nami started waking up. The delightful scent of dinosaur meat as well the warming heat of fire made her feel comfortable enough to wake up. Then she remembered the giant and wanted to scream, but her nakama put his hand on her mouth and reassured her. "No need to freak out, Nami, he's a good guy."

Nami, in contrary to Usopp, ceased to see Brogy as a threat, but she still wanted to go away. "Excuse me, how long does a Log Pose need to recharge here?"

"Hmmmmmmmm…", Brogy said, placing his hand on his chin as a thinking pose. "A Log Pose needs one year to recharge on this island. Unluckily for you, no human has ever endured so long on this island."

The navigator looked around. She saw half a dozen human skeletons. "What did I get myself into?", she weeped, laying down again.

While she was complaining about how she would die, Usopp and Brogy had pretty much the same conversation as Luffy and Dorry.

A few minutes later, the same volcano erupted, telling the warrior to battle his friend. The black-haired, who befriended the giant and admired Elbaf and its people, decided to wait for his new friend to come back. The orange-haired on the other hand, decided to go back to Merry where she would be safe.

…

After some time of walking, the ginger and the mosshead met on their way back to Merry. The girl noticed the rhino and complemented her nakama on it. "Hey, you did a good catch there!"

Zoro shrugged. "I've had more difficult things to deal with in the past.", he stated, thinking of Mihawk. "What have you and Long-nose been doing while we were gone?"

The green-haired wondered why he didn't get an answer after five seconds. He looked behind him because the ginger was walking there, and to his shock, she disappeared.

"Nami?", the swordsman called, suddenly concerned about her well-being. "Nami? Nami, answer me!"

He saw what he thought was Nami a couple of trees away and was confused. "Nami, if you think this is funny, I can tell you it's not. And how did you get there in the first place?"

She then disappeared, making him run to her former spot. They continued like that, until Zoro was completely exhausted. "*wheeze* Why are you doing this, Nami?"

In a split second he realized he couldn't move anymore. The obstacle hindering him from moving felt like wax to him. 'Dammit, why can't I move?', he thought, desperately trying to free himself.

"Hahahaha!", a male voice laughed from behind. "What you saw was a wax figure created by my powers. You probably guessed it already, but let me confirm it for you: the reason why you can't move is frozen wax. I ate the Doru Doru no mi, I'm a candle human, and you are coming with me."

"You bastard.", the green-haired spat. "You won't get away with this!"

…

Meanwhile, the Alabastan princess Vivi ran through the jungle to find her super spot-billed duck Carue. He has been her best friend since her childhood friend has been seperated from her years ago. "Carue, where are you?", she shouted, constantly turning her head left and right.

To her surprise, two familiar figures confronted her, holding her beloved pet hostage. "Why hello there, princess, we've been looking for you.", Mr. 5 spoke.

"Leave Carue alone, Baroque works!", she yelled, her face turning into a shade of red.

"Kyaahahahaha! If you come with us, we'll let your stupid bird free, if you don't, we'll have dinner with him. Your choice.", Miss Valentine declared, hitting the blue-haired's weak spot.

Vivi growled in defeat. "Fine, I'll go with you, but free Carue first!"

Mr. 5 chuckled. "There you have it!", he said, untying Carue. "Now get the hell outta here!"

The duck ran. He ran as fast as he could. He needed Luffy to help him, he needed Luffy to help Vivi.

…

After another tie with Brogy, Dorry returned to his place where Luffy was waiting for him. "Did you win?", the boy asked, sitting on a white mountain-like structure.

"Unfortunately, no. The 73.470th tie.", he groaned, stepping over to the human.

He, the giant, then noticed a barrel of sake on the ground. "Oi, human, did you put that barrel of sake on there for me? How nice of you!"

Luffy's eyes opened wide up. 'Oh no, that's the foul sake Mr. 3 put there, if Dorry drinks that, it'll explode inside of him.', he thought, wanting to make sure this incident doesn't happen again.

"No, I didn't put that barrel of sake in there, and I wouldn't drink that.", the pirate captain warned him.

"Why not, it looks fine to me.", the giant said, picking up the barrel.

"I said NO.", the 17-year-old spoke up, making the bearded man stop moving the barrel towards his mouth.

The giant got annoyed with this. "Care to explain why?", he demanded, seriously annoyed.

"There are people from an evil organization called Baroque works here on this island. They wanted to weaken you with this barrel of foul sake, intending to make you die in your next duel, then killing your friend yourself. I'm sure they are behind your bounties.", the black-haired explained, straight up angering the warrior.

"WHAAAAAT, THEY WANTED TO KILL ME?!", he roared, greatly infuriated. "HOW DARE THEY TRY TO RUIN A SACRED DUEL!"

He calmed down afterwards, turning to the strawhat again. "Hate to ask you my friend, but could you-"

"Yes,", Luffy anticipated, "I can make sure nobody interrupts your sacred duel."

With that, a volcano erupted again.

…

Dorry carried Luffy on his shoulders to Brogy, who was waiting for him somewhere in the middle of the island.

"Gababababa. Dorry, why did you bring a human with you, to watch us?", he asked, laughing.

The other giant's face was serious. "Yes Brogy, he is here to watch us. There are some evil people on this island who are after our bounties, going as far as trying to ruin our sacred duel."

"HOW DARE THEY?", Brogy erupted, his attitude changing in a flash. "I would like to go and squash them, but we must fight, my friend. Gababababa!"

After finishing his sentence, Brogy attacked with his giant battle axe. Dorry stopped the axe with his shield, then slashing his sword at Brogy, only for him to block it too.

Luffy activated his Observation haki and sensed allied and enemy auras in close proximity. He left the battlefield of the giants to see what is happening on the island.

…

The first aura Luffy reached was Carue. "KWAAA, KWAAA!", the running bird screamed, trying to tell something to the pirate.

"Let me guess, Vivi was kidnapped."

Carue nodded with a sad face.

"Okay.", the black-haired spoke, climbing on the duck to ride him. "Let's find Vivi!"

…

Some minutes later, Luffy and Carue found Usopp, who was sitting on a log next to a campfire. "Usopp!", the 17-year-old called, getting his sniper's attention. "What is it, Luffy?"

"Vivi has been kidnapped, we got to help her!", he informed, grabbing some of the leftover meat to eat it. "Get on."

Willing to help his temporary nakama, Usopp climbed atop the super spot-billed duck, who gasped for air due to the heavy load he's carrying.

…

On the other half of the island, there was a birthday cake made out of wax. The main part of the cake was at the bottom, a huge thick pillar in the middle, and at the top a spinning part with candles on it. Three people were standing on the main cake, a green-haired swordsman making a cool pose and two girls with blue and orange hair screaming at him for his unnecessary stupidity. The longer the part on top of the pillar with candles was spinning, the more wax would encoat them. And if the three would be encoated entirely with wax, they would die.

Beside the cake, four Baroque agents watched their victims slowly being encoated by wax. The main perpetrator was Mr. 3, or Galdino, an asian-looking man with a blue and white outfit and 3-shaped hair with fire burning atop. His partner was a little girl called Miss Goldenweek, who wore a short blue cloud-patterned shirt and a pink hat. Her hair was braided into two pigtails and red. The Mr. 3 pair was accompanied by the already known Mr. 5 pair.

"How do you like it up there?", Mr. 3 teased, making the pirates upset.

"You continue mocking us, we will find a way out of here and then you'll pay.", Zoro said, looking at the tea lover.

This man chuckled, a bit annoyed. "If you can't move now, then why should you be able to move later, when the wax is getting even harder? Your death kicks in in 60 minutes, you have no chance to escape.". He then started laughing, trying to sound like an evil villain.

"I doubt that.", a young but serious male voice spoke from behind.

Everybody's attention turned to a boy in a red captain's coat stepping down from an exhausted running-duck. "Tch, what do you want here, captain boy?", 3 asked in a rude manner.

The strawhat crackled his fingers. "I am here to kick your ass, Mr. 3!", he declared, showing everybody his trademark smile.

Mr. 3 clenched his teeth. "Mr. 5, Miss Valentine, I want you to take care of Strawhat, I don't want him interfering in my business, understand?", he ordered, not wanting the 17-year-old to interfere in his business.

Luffy focused again. "Alright, this is our chance to defeat them. Usopp, you run and distract Booger man and Lemon. Carue, you go and distract that girl there, understand? Meanwhile, I'm going to kick Candle guy's ass.", the black-haired spoke, explaining his plan. Usopp and Carue nodded.

"Here I am! Catch me if you can, Baroque works!", the darker-skinned boy yelled, addressing Mr. 5 and his partner.

Said Baroque agents looked at each other, nodding. "Come here kid, we're going to teach you a lesson!", the male Baroque agent said, running after the sniper.

"AAAAAAAH! DON'T KILL ME!", the cowardly liar screamed, running for his life.

At the same time, Carue was running at Miss Goldenweek, who apparently was scared of big running ducks. "KWAAA, KWAAA!"

"GYAAAAAAH, GET AWAY FROM ME!", she almost shrieked, secretly wishing to go home to her mommy.

Seeing how the strawhat tried to ruin his great plan, Galdino started to lose his temper. "I've had enough of you, brat, you will not get in my way any further.", he declared, forming a wax harpoon in his hands. "Doru Doru Arts: Mori!"

The wax harpoon was almost hit Luffy, until he did something against it. "Tekkai!"

Three looked at the pirate in disbelief. His harpoon shattered upon impact. "H-how did you do that? My wax is as hard as steel, this shouldn't be possible.", the tea-drinker asked, pointing at his current foe.

Hearing this, Luffy smirked, taking it as a compliment. "There's only one problem: My body is harder than steel."

"Wha- wha- whaaaaaa-?! Impossible!", Mr. 3 yelled, pressing his hands against his head.

"Nothing is impossible buddy. Gomu Gomu no Gatling!", the teenager exclaimed, destroying the wax cake with his rapid fists, thus freeing his nakama.

Immediately after being freed, Nami and Vivi ran towards Luffy to hug him. "Thank you for saving us, we thought we'd die!", they cried, expecting their captain to console them. Zoro only stood by his captain's side, his arms crossed. "Thanks Luffy, you saved my life.". Luffy only laughed. "Shishishi! I wouldn't let any of you die."

Unlike Luffy, Galdino had no reason to laugh. Instead of laughing, he was fuming. "You!", he shouted at the 17-year-old. "I'm going to kill you for ruining my plan! I am so angry I could burn from it, but that would make me melt, I wouldn't want that, so I'll cool down, but I'm still going to kill you!"

Mr. 3 was talking a lot of nonsense, formally said. Luffy mentally facepalmed listening to Buggy's future crewmate talking bullshit. Right now, the candle human was forming a massive battle suit for him out of wax. "Candle Champion!"

'Heh, this looks so much less cool than Franky Shogun.', the strawhat thought, remembering the cool battle robot of his future shipwright.

"What's with this nonsense, you already saw me breaking your wax, why are you trying with a battle suit made out of wax?", the black-haired asked, not effecting 3's determination.

"Champ Fight: Oraga Hatake!"

Galdino swung his wax-enhanced arm at the young captain, who retaliated with 'Gomu Gomu no Pistol'. The candle human was then sent flying.

His nakama wanted to congratulate him, but the fight wasn't over. Usopp came running from the woods, trying to shake off his pursuers. The bomb human loaded his pistol – with his breath, aiming at the sniper.

"AAAAAAAAH! DON'T SHOOT!", the sharpshooter screamed, running faster than before.

"This isn't a normal pistol, it's a special model from the South Blue. It shoots the air I exhaled into the chambers. Since I'm a bomb human, I can literally explode every part of my body, including my breath. Now hold still so that I can shoot you.", the dark-skinned man explained, shooting 3 rounds, but missing Usopp completely.

"Usopp, shoot back, you can do this!", Luffy called, encouraging his marksman to beat his foe.

'He tells me to shoot back? I don't know if I could hit him- of course I can hit him, I'm the great Captain Usopp after all, I can hit small targets with my eyes closed, this shouldn't be a challenge for me.'

The curly-long-black-haired boy pulled out a pellet of his pocket. He placed it on his slingshot, Ginga Pachinko, and aimed it backwards at the person chasing him, without looking. "Kayaku Boshi!"

Coincidentally, the explosive gunpowder pellet hit Mr. 5's head as if the Straw Hat pirate aimed for it. Due to his devil fruit, he exploded, knocking out Miss Valentine, who was close to him, with him. Everybody except Luffy glared at the proud sniper in disbelief, dropping their jaws. This also included Carue, who returned after defeating Miss Goldenweek.

Usopp was proud of his victory, but he was more interested in this 'haki thing', he called. "Erm Luffy, did I awaken this haki thing?", he asked, curious about his abilities.

Luffy checked. "Unfortunately, no. This was only your natural born gift for sharpshooting. But if you train more, you will awaken your Observation haki, believe me.", the pirate captain answered, disappointing the sniper and giving him new hopes at the same time.

"Understand Captain Luffy, I will train much more. I will train as much as I can until I become the world's best sharpshooter.", the other 17-year-old promised, holding his thumb up high.

Out of nowhere, Sanji joined the group. "Nami-swaan, Vivi-chwaan I'm baaack!", he raved, his body moving like a geenie's lower part after being summoned from his lamp. "What the hell did I miss, shitheads?", he rudely asked after turning to the males.

Zoro had gotten angry. Once again, the ero-cook missed everything and wasn't there when he was needed. The swordsman needed to let out his anger. "Where the fuck were you this time, Shitty Cook? Nami, Vivi and I almost died and you were doing god know's what somewhere in the woods. Honestly, if I was the captain I'd fire you from being absent during battles and not coming to help your nakama, you useless shit!"

Despite the insults, the leg fighter decided to stay calm. He pushed up one eyebrow. "What if I told you I'm our real savior?"

"Bullshit, w-", the green-haired tried to say, but the blond interrupted him by holding up an Eternal Pose to Alabasta. "This is an Eternal Pose I obtained not long ago, it leads us directly to Alabasta."

Everyone's eyes widened and jaws dropped, except Luffy's. "H-how were you able to get an Eternal Pose?", the ginger and the bluenette exclaimed in a unison.

Sanji puffed out a heart-shaped cloud of smoke. "I'll explain it to you, my beloved ones!", he raved uncontrollably.

…

 _30 minutes ago:_

The fighting cook walked through the evergreen forest, trying to get back to Merry. But instead of a ship, he found a house entirely made out of wax. "Hmm, hello, anybody inside?"

After getting no answer, he decided to step in. He found a table, a box and a Den-Den-Mushi. Suddenly, the Den-Den-Mushi started to ring. "Biribiribiri. Biribiribiri *clank*"

"Restaurant Baratie, how can I help you?", the Vinsmoke joked after answering the call.

"Quit it with the jokes.", a deep voice spoke up in an annoyed tone. "Mr. 3, is that you?"

"Yes, I'm Mister Three.", Sanji lied. "Who are you?"

"I said quit it with the jokes!", the male barked, now a little furious. "You know that I'm Mr. 0, I'm calling from Alabasta."

"Oh really? So why did you call me?"

The male speaking with the cook sighed. "I've gotten some information about a pirate crew protecting Princess Vivi. We've identified three members by now. The swordsman Roronoa Zoro, the captain Monkey D. Luffy and an orange-haired girl. The crew should currently be on Little Garden, where you are. I want you to eliminate them.", he said, sounding serious.

"Ah, those guys, well, I've, uhh…", the blond tried to speak, but he didn't find a logical thing to say.

"You've what?"

"I, uhhh, already killed them!", he lied.

"Very good. You can now open the box I've sent you.", Mr. 0 said.

Sanji opened the box. He found a Log-Pose-like thing with 'Alabasta' engraved in it.

"It's an Eternal Pose to Alabasta.", the man informed the guy he thought was Mr. 3. "Come back with Princess Vivi right now, I have further orders for you."

Suddenly, two animals landed on the windowsill, a brown otter wearing a white purple-dotted jumpsuit and a black vulture with an aviator cap and black goggles. They had an hostile appearance.

"Sir, Mr. 0, two animals appeared, an otter and a vulture.", the cook told his 'boss'.

"They are the 'Unluckies', my spies informing me about everything related to my business. You have nothing to be afraid of, Mr. 3."

But he was wrong. Sanji wasn't Galdino. The otter attacked the leg fighter with his claws, but the fighting cook kicked him at the wall with so much force, the mammal died instantly. Because of her partner's death and an outsider infiltrating Baroque works, the bird pulled out two machine guns strapped to her back and started shooting at the impostor. The blond dodged every single bullet and snapped her neck, killing her effectively.

Mr. 0's voice came from the Den-Den-Mushi again. "What was that?", he angrily demanded, slamming his fist against his table.

"Oh, err, the Strawhat came for me again. Apparently, he survived and wanted revenge, so he came here to kill me, but now he's dead for sure.", Sanji lied again.

Crocodile was not pleased to hear this. "So you failed your mission and lied to me? You've just sealed your death sentence, _Mr. 3._ You already know failure is not an option, but lying to me? I'm going to send Mr. 2 for your head, I think it'll fit nicely in my _collection._ "

With that, the Shichibukai ended the conversation. Sanji picked up the Eternal Pose and left the house in order to find his nakama and tell them about it.

…

 _Present timeline:_

"… and that's how I got here.", the cook finished his sentence.

"You talked with CROCODILE?!", the Alabastan exclaimed in disbelief.

"Yep, he didn't sound like a nice guy.", he simply said.

"We have to go to Alabasta!"

The blue-haired was acting like she was stung by a scorpion – hectic and rushed. Her nakama and friend, Nami, tried to calm her down. "Easy, we can't reach Alabasta in one moment to the next."

"We have the Eternal Pose, so let's leave already!", she continued.

The navigator sighed. "Fine, we're leaving now."

…

On the ship, there were lots of animals stuffed into one big pile. It turned out Dorry and Brogy gave them to their new human friends as a parting gift. "Gegyagyagyagya! We've seen your battle together after ours finished. You did pretty good for humans, especially you, Strawhat.", Dorry complimented.

"Thanks Dorry, but I don't think I'll ever be as strong as you.", Luffy commented back.

"Gababababa! You don't need to be as stong as us, you're not giants.", Brogy laughed. "But still, you are our friends and always welcome in Elbaf."

"I want to go to Elbaf once I'm stronger.", Usopp beamed, stars in his eyes.

"Gegyagyagyagya! That's the spirit my boy!"

The Straw Hats lifted their anchor.

"I think this is our goodbye.", the captain spoke with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Gababababa! We wish you a happy journey on the Grand Line, I have the feeling you'll be famous one day."

"Goodbye!", everyone exclaimed, bidding farewell to the giants.

Suddenly, after moving away from the prehistoric island a bit, a titan-sized red and white goldfish emerged from the water, scaring the pirates greatly. He looked like he was about to eat them for lunch.

"That's the Island Eater!", the long-bearded giant angrily exclaimed.

"He's the main reason ships leaving this island never reach their destination.", the viking added.

"UAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!", everyone on board except Luffy screamed, fearing for their lives.

"We need to save them, ready Brogy?", Dorry said, lifting his sword.

"I'm always ready.", Brogy answered, lifting his battle axe.

"HAKOKU!"

The two giants shouted the attack name at the same time, just like they threw their weapons at the savage fish at the same time. After the hit, the monster ceased to live, due to the fact he was cut in half.

"Sanji, I want a big piece of that fish!", the occasionally childish captain exclaimed, getting a fork and a knife.

"You can't eat that, idiot! How is only a small piece of that humongous monster fit on this small ship? Besides, we already have meat thanks to the giants enough for 6 months, but knowing you, you'd eat that in 6 days.", the blond yelled at the black-haired with sharp teeth, giving him a bump.

"Erm, guys?", Nami began, holding her head. "Sorry for interrupting you, but I'm feeling a little sick."

"What's wrong Nami-san?", Sanji asked, speeding towards her like a flash.

"Everything feels so hot, and I-", she answered, before passing out. Her head was as red as a matador's flag.

"Nami!", Vivi exclaimed, kneeling down next to her.

"We're changing our direction.", Luffy ordered. "We need to find medical help for Navi as fast as possible."

Usopp looked at the Log Pose. "The next island is Drum Island.", he informed his crew.

Zoro ran to the steering wheel. "I'm taking over, where do we have to go?". For the first time, he was really concerned for his nakama. He might have hated her money-loving attitude, but she was his crewmate and like family for him.

"Oh Nami-san, please become healthy soon!", Sanji begged, crying. In situations like this he'd NEVER act like he normally does around ladies. He had a functioning brain after all.

'Chopper, please save Nami, I know you can do this!'

* * *

 **Sorry for not uploading for so many days. I hope I can make up for it with one long chapter. There might be some quality errors starting in the middle, but don't judge me please, I'm not a native english speaker. Constructive criticism allowed. Rate and review please.**


	12. C12: The misunderstood someone

**Never again!**

 **Luffy's going to recruit another member. Exciting, right? He and our favourite reindeer will kick some Wapol ass and save Drum. Now to the Author Note related stuff. You might know already, but when I notice something wrong, I edit it up. Just to let you know if you didn't already. Now people, I have an idea: How about you ask me questions and I'll answer them (no big spoilers)? Write it in the comments. If it has a positive outcome, I'll start next chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**

* * *

 **Chapter 12: Th** **e misunderstood someone**

The Straw Hats sailed towards Drum. They were in a hurry and had a bad mood. Who wouldn't be if one of their nakama was deadly sick.

Drum was a Winter Island, an island where it's constantly winter. But not only the island itself is cold, the area around it is freezing cold too. Sometimes, the water around Drum freezes, just like this time, when the Straw Hats encountered said phenomenon. A clown-like man with green-blue-white clothing was standing on the ice. He had a bag of arrows strapped on his back, and proceded to shoot one of them in the air, its tip engulfed in fire.

"Listen listen, pirates, you are crossing the path of King Wapol. Your Majesty will come out and decide about your fate.", he declared, jumping on top of a huge pirate submarine which emerged from below the ice, surprising the Straw Hats greatly.

King Wapol, who was the captain of the pirate submarine, walked onto Going Merry with some of his many henchmen, who subsequently held everybody on deck at gunpoint. He was a short, overweight man with dark purple hair and a cylinder-shaped metal jaw. His clothing consisted of metal-plated armor and a hooded cape made out of White Walkie fur.

'Wapol you coward, I can not express how much I detest you, you cowardly, useless, shitty, terrible excuse of a ruler.', Luffy thought.

"Maaaaaahahahahaha! Are you really a pirate crew, you consist of only 4 people.", Wapol spoke up, chewing his meat on a sword.

"Yeah, problem with that?", the kid dressed in red asked, his voice defined by aggression.

One of Wapol's soldiers pressed his gun against the black-haired's forehead. "Silence! Nobody talks to Wapol-sama like that!", he snapped.

"Easy, easy.", the former king of Drum calmed his follower down. "I didn't come here to kill."

The glutton, who ate his sword after the meat due to his Baku Baku powers, turned to the strawhat. "Do you have an Eternal Pose to Drum? I'm in need of one.", he asked, licking metal particles off his metal snout.

"No, we don't have an Eternal Pose.", the 17-year-old answered, crossing his arms. His message was clear: Get the hell outta my ship!

"Maaaaahahahaha! If that's the case, then I'll take your ship and treasures.", the metal-man proclaimed.

"You won't take shit!"

The pirate captain was fuming. 'First he steps on our ship and holds us hostage, then he wants to take our ship and treasures? Heck no, I'm gonna teach him some manners.'

"What was that?", the purple-haired spat, ordering his men to load their rifles. "Uuh, I'm hungry.". His expression changed from angry obnoxious man to goofy big-eater. The ex-royal walked over to the railing and ripped out a big chunk of it with his humongous mouth.

"Hey, stop eating our ship!", the teen exclaimed, punching the soldiers around him.

"That's it! Open fire!", a higher ranking soldier yelled, shooting at the Straw Hat Pirates. To his misfortune, the power levels of their enemies were way stronger than their own. He and his fellow followers of Wapol were slashed, kicked, punched and shot to a bloody mess.

"Oi Wapol!", Luffy shouted, getting the cruel devil-fruit-user's attention. "Don't eat our ship. Gomu Gomu no Pistol!"

The king of the Bliking Pirates was sent flying, into the ocean to be exact. His subordinates were too frightened to attack the small crew in retaliation. A hairy black-haired man with an afro on his head, an afro on each of his hands, and three small afros on his beard, Kuromarimo, swore revenge on the pirates before ordering Wapol's army to rescue their king.

After that incident, the Straw Hats continued in their destination.

…

"We're there!", Usopp reported to his captain. "Luffy, we're at Drum Island."

Drum Island was a snowy, windy, and mountainous island where everything was cold. The weather there was so cold, not even Sakura trees could bloom. The Straw Hats wanted to get off in a small bay, but were halted by a big group of armed villagers, standing on Drum Island.

"Oi, what's the meaning of this?", the rubber man angrily exclaimed.

"This means you're not welcome, pirate scum. Now leave, before we take action against you.", one villager shouted.

"But we need a doctor! Our nakama is sick.", the sniper tried to explain.

"We won't fall for that trick again, return immediately!".

A shot came out of the villager's pistol and it barely missed Sanji. "Oi!". The latter was about to jump, but Vivi held him back. Flinching because of the cook's reaction, the man pulled the trigger another time due to reflex. Before the bullet could hit the princess, Luffy stepped in using 'Soru'. He was moving so fast, not even Usopp or Zoro were able to see him. It looked like he, the villager of Drum, missed and shot at the same spot again.

"Try that one more time and you'll die."

The people of Drum shivered first, then readied their guns. A battle was about to start until Vivi intervened. She kneeled down to the citizens of Drum, making them lower their weapons. "Okay, we will leave if you want, but please, save our nakama. She's extremely sick and can't be cured by us. We'll do whatever you want if you get us a doctor, I'm begging you."

The rest of the Straw Hats followed her example. "Please, get us a doctor. We won't do anything to you."

One man, appearing to be the leader of the crowd, decided to give in. "Fine, follow me. I'll lead you to our village."

Some of his fellow Drum Islanders questioned him. "Is that the right thing? They're pirates, Dalton, you know what those people did to us."

"I think it is the right thing. They are not like the ones we've faced. Besides, they need us, and I doubt that they'll betray us if one of them dies as a consequence.", the man called Dalton said. "By the way,", he turned to the pirates, "I'm Dalton."

On their way to the village, the Straw Hats had questions to ask. Their captain and their temporary member acted as the voice of the crew. "Dalton-san, what was with your hostility?", the bluenette asked, trailing behind Dalton. He was tall, had a muscular build, wore green clothes, and had a square-shaped face.

"We are acting hostile against pirates for a reason. A year ago, a pirate crew attacked our island and killed one third of the population.", he explained, turning his head towards the Alabastan.

"Oh, that's sad.", she murmured, looking down.

"But some people think it was a good thing.", the adult continued. "Because of that attack, our former cruel and cowardly king fled immediately without even thinking of fighting back. Our home has suffered horribly under Wapol."

"Wapol?", the son of Dragon repeated, getting Dalton's attention. "That fat metal man?"

"Yes, Drum's former king Wapol. Don't tell me you've met him."

"Ohh, we've met him.", the future pirate king told him. "He and his soldiers attacked our ship and asked us if we had and Eternal Pose to Drum Island. After we told him we didn't have one, he tried to eat our ship. Then I sent him flying into the ocean. He deserved that."

The people of Drum dropped their jaws. "You sent Wapol flying?!". Suddenly, their sympathy for the Straw Hat Pirates increased to a higher level.

Dalton clapped his hands. "An enemy of Wapol is a friend of mine. Sorry for our initial hostility, I'll make up for it by telling you the way to the island's only doctor, but I gotta tell you, she's a witch."

"A witch?", the Straw Hats asked.

"This sure is a weird country.", Sanji, who was carrying sick Nami, remarked.

To the pirates' surprise, a big walking bear came walking towards the group from ahead. "AAAAAH, a bear! Everyone, play dead!", Usopp screamed, dropping himself on the ground.

"Calm down.", the man in green reassured him. "That's a hiking bear, he's harmless. The only thing you have to do is to greet him, otherwise he'll be pissed off."

With that, everyone bowed before the tall light-grey bear except Usopp, who was lying on the ground pretending to be dead, secretly ashamed.

When the group arrived in Bighorn, the ways of the pirates and the citizens of Drum parted. "Keep an eye on the pirates and call us if you need us.", some villagers said to Dalton before going home.

"I guess they aren't the country's armed forces.", the princess spoke.

"No, they're civilians.", the square-faced man explained. "We are looking after ourselves since Wapol betrayed us.

"Oh, Dalton-kun. I'm looking forward to the election in two days. Everyone says, they're going to vote for you.", an elderly man stated, approaching the two.

"You shouldn't! Not for someone like me, I am a man of too many sins.". Dalton didn't want to become the new king. He had guilt feelings.

Vivi curiously looked at him. 'What did he do wrong? I don't understand…'

…

Some time later in Dalton's house, Nami was lying in his bed. "How bad is her condition?", he asked.

"Nami-san has a fever of 42°. It has been rising for a few days, and we still don't know how to treat it.", the blue-haired answered, concerning Dalton.

"If it rises higher, she'll surely die!"

"And that's why we need a doctor as fast as possible! So where is that witch you're talking about?", Sanji snapped at him.

Dalton decided to keep his calm. "You see that mountain?", he spoke, pointing at the window. "She lives in the castle on that mountain."

"And how do we get there?", the temporary pirate asked.

"W-well, uhh,", he stammered, "you either climb the mountain or fly there."

"What?!", the blond cook exclaimed. "How are we supposed to climb up there with a fragile deadly ill person, or better yet, fly?"

Luffy and Usopp were listening from outside the window. Previously, they explored the snowy village and ate a thing or two. The captain already had an idea on how to get to Dr. Kureha's castle.

"I must aplologize.", Dalton admitted. "I should've known you can't fly. But somehow, the witch Dr. Kureha can. Sometimes at night, people see her riding her sleigh pulled by a strange creature down and up her mountain in the air. It's crazy and I can't explain it."

"So if we can't go up there, can we summon her to us?", Vivi wanted to know.

"No, I'm afraid you can't.", the man in green told her, shaking his head. "Despite being the only doctor of our island, she only comes down of her own will."

"What kind of doctor is that?!", Sanji angrily called. 'If that witch is the reason Nami-san dies, I'm gonna kill her, woman or not!'

"Well, she'd no doubt a good doctor, but she's a strange old woman who has almost lived for 140 years.", he explained. "I don't know what's with her, she's very eccentric."

"Oh.", the Alabastan muttered, sadness and despair in her eyes. "Then there's low chance Nami-san will survive."

The strawhat finally entered the house. "Oi, don't say that!", he ordered, his upper face not visible due to the shadow of his straw hat. "I am going to get her to that castle."

"Have you lost it? Do you realize how cold it is outside? Nami-san could die!", the blond shouted at his captain, who shouted back.

"Nami WILL die if we wait. If you want to save her as much as I do, then come help me with carrying her to that doctor."

Sanji froze. He had a point. "Okay.", the leg fighter mumbled. "I'm coming with you."

His captain turned to Vivi and Usopp. "Vivi, Usopp, I want you to look for that doctor in another village. I mean, there has to be another village than just Bighorn."

Dalton confirmed this. "Yes, there are three other villages, Cocoa Weed, Gyasta and Robelle. Perhabs she's in one of those villages right now."

Luffy sighed. "Let's get going guys, we've got a nakama to save."

With that, the Straw Hats separated. "Beware, there are dangerous Lapahns in the mountains!", the square-faced man yelled after Luffy and Sanji. "I wish you success in saving your nakama!"

…

Zoro, who stayed back on Merry with Carue when the others left, went training into the woods. When he was walking on a road covered in snow after finishing his training, he encountered a sleigh pulled by a reindeer in which a very old woman was sitting. "Oi old lady, can you tell me how I get back to the coast?"

The old lady had a devilish grin on her face. "What did you call me?"

"Old lady, wh-", the green-haired answered, shrugging, before suddenly sent flying by a fist. "DON'T CALL ME OLD LADY, I'M STILL IN MY 130'S!"

He didn't know that this woman was very sensible when it came to her age, so unfortunately, he had to learn this the hard way. When the swordsman landed on a pillow of snow, he decided to kill time and get warm with another training session.

…

With Nami on the his back, Luffy made his way to Drum Castle with Sanji. They were talking about their favourite ginger and some woman-related stuff, while continiously bothered by a Lapahn child. The white rabbit with red eyes and razor-sharp teeth tried to bite the two (three), but the running duo effortlessly dodged the mammal and talked to each other at the same time. When Sanji finally had enough of it, he kicked the carnivore into a tree. "Piss off, or I'm going to make roasted hare legs out of you!"

30 seconds later, after the little killer-rabbit recovered, a pack of angry adult lapahns, each of them as big as an ice bear, blocked the way of the black-haired and blond with standing on top of a big cliff out of snow and ice. Their leader, who had a scar on his face, had his child hugging his back, still visible on his shoulder. The 17-year-old didn't know what to do. He'd put the life of his navigator in danger if he fought, even though he was much stronger than before.

"Sanji, what are we doing now, should we fight them?"

His cook lit up a cigarette. "No.", he declared with a stern voice. "Promise me not to fight, Luffy, we can't risk Nami-san's life."

"Understand.", the young pirate replied with the same tone. "You'll do the fighting."

"RAAAAAAAAH!". One lapahn attempted pouncing on the fighting cook, but the latter's reactions were a lot faster than a heavy biest's attack. "Flanchet Shoot!"

The attacking lapahn got kicked into the stomach. The blow was so hard, he, the lapahn, flew into another lapahn. Their leader was not happy about this. He ordered his fellow killer-rabbits to attack the Straw Hats, but the leg fighter kicked them right back to the Alpha-Lapahn with a combo of Black Leg Style attacks. Furious about their defeat, the polar-bear-sized rabbits started to jump up and down on their cliff.

"What are they doing, Sanji?", Luffy asked.

Sanji's eyes widened and his cigarette dropped out of his mouth. "T-they, t-they want to… Oh no! They want to trigger an avalanche!"

An avalanche was not what the teenager expected. If Nami was caught in an avalanche, she'd be killed by it. He had an idea on how to prevent his nakama's death, but wasn't sure if his fighting cook could keep up with him. "Sanji,", the boy spoke, "I want you to jump and kick in the air as fast and powerful and possible."

"And why should I do that?", the blond questioned, staring doubtfully at his captain.

"Training and get ourselves to safety.", the black-haired simply answered. "Look at me and do the same thing, understand? Geppo!"

The 17-year-old Rokushiki master basically walked into the air with big steps, expecting his nakama to do the same. Most other people would've failed with his, Sanji's state of progress, but the cook had one big advantage: his exceptional legs. He walked into the air next to his captain and trainer directly after the avalanche occured, who then complemented the leg master. "Hey Sanji, you're a natural! Now that you have mastered Geppo, Rankyaku training will begin soon."

"Heh!", the Vinsmoke let out, almost laughing. "Geppo sounds as shitty as Roronoa, I'll call it Sky Walk."

"Even better!", Luffy called, smiling widely. "Now we can get faster to the witch!"

…

 _5 minutes earlier:_

Usopp and Vivi weren't happy. After they finally reached Cocoa Weed, they found out from a child that Dr. Kureha had already left after healing him. His father told them she left for Gyasta, another village. Wanting to help Nami, the two made their way back to the road they traveled on. About 4 minutes later, they reached the street sign leading to Gyasta.

"I hope we don't have to walk that far this time.", the black-haired muttered.

"I hope we FIND her this time.", the blue-haired retorted, giving her friend a tiny, yet meaningful slap. "You know what happens to Nami-san if she stays without treatment for another day. Walking should be your last worry."

A little later, they were hit by a small fraction of the original big avalanche. "AAAAAAAAAH!"

The Alabastan princess woke up after a small blackout. "Ahhhh, crap, that hurt!". She managed to stand up and to her shock, Usopp was gone! After focusing with her eyes, the girl discovered a long nose pointing out of a thick layer of snow. "Usopp-san!". She pushed away lots of snow off the liar's face and body, pulling him out of the white substance right after. "Usopp-san, wake up!"

"Ehhhhh, Vivi, don't wake me up… I'm on a field of flowers… I see Zoro swimming in the river…", he mumbled in his sleep to death.

Vivi slapped the hell out of the dying coward's face. He was talking stuff he'd see before dying. "Usopp-san, you're close to reaching the other world, wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! …"

Some time later, Usopp woke up – his face swollen up so much someone would think he got stung by 50000 bees. "Thank you Vivi for waking me up. Does my face look swollen?". She decided not to answer.

Just a few meters away, a green-haired man rose up from the snow. He was almost naked, his current clothing only consisted of his pants. "Uh, I was swimming in a river-"

"Zoro!"

"Zoro-san!"

The bluenette shook her head. "Why the fuck are you almost naked?"

"I went training in the woods, then I encountered an old hag who was too sensible about her age. She sent me flying after one hell of a punch into the place I am right now, then I decided to train again. Suddenly, an avalanche caught me off guard and buried me. Some time later I woke up from my dream and then I saw you guys.", the swordsman explained, his hands and cheeks red from the cold.

'Maybe Nami got sick from hanging around with dumb people.', the royal thought.

"Huh?". Zoro got a closer look at Usopp. The sometimes meat-headed mosshead noticed the sniper's swollen face and burst out in laughter. "WHAT'S SO FUNNY?!"

Together, the three returned to Bighorn to treat their injuries before heading to Gyasta, where they found a two groups of armed men glaring at each other and a bull man lying on the ground in the middle of them with three arrows in his chest. The 16-year-old girl recognized the bull man by his clothes. "D-dalton-san?"

…

 _20 minutes earlier:_

A severly injured man covered in blood walked as fast as he could to Bighorn. His whole body was hurting and he was in need of help. Upon arrival, the brown-haired man looked for Dalton. "Dalton-san!"

Dalton noticed this and ran over to see the Drum Islander. "What happened to you, weren't you on guard?"

The man was panting heavily. "They- they killed everyone, everyone except me… Dalton-san! W-wapol is coming back!"

With that, he collapsed in Dalton's arms. The latter's eyes were wide open, as well as the eyes of the bystanders. Wapol was coming back to reclaim his throne and rule as a tyrant again. The worst nightmare of the people of Drum came true: Wapol was coming back.

"Everyone!", the bull man demanded for attention. "Get your weapons, we're gonna drive Wapol off our home once and for all!"

Every bystander ran home to get their weapons and inform others to get theirs too. Wapol coming back was serious business.

Shortly after, the gluttonous man set foot on Bighorn. "Maaaaahahahahaha! Your king is back!"

Dalton lifted his gaze towards his former king and transformed into his bison hybrid form. He received this power from the Ushi Ushi no mi, Model: Bison. "Wapol!"

The metal man and his loyal followers turned to Dalton. "Maaaahahahahaha! If that's not Dalton, my ex-servant.", he said, crazily laughing.

"Shut up!"

Dalton pulled out his spade and slashed at Wapol, giving him a big cut in his torso with lots of blood coming out. "AAAAAAH, I'M INJURED!", the ex-king screamed in pain.

"Call the Isshi-20 (20 best doctors of Drum)!", Chess ordered, holding his head with his hands, saddened about his master's injury.

The Isshi-20 did a quick surgery on Wapol, healing him almost instantly. The patient then snapped at his former loyal subordinate. "What was that for?!"

"You even ask?!", the bison hybrid furiously exclaimed. "You preserved the best 20 doctors of your kingdom entirely for yourself and either banished or killed almost every other doctor from Drum Island. Now we only have ONE doctor, and we were formerly known as the island with the best doctors. Not only that, when the Blackbeard Pirates attacked, you fled immediately without even _TRYING_ to fight back. For that reason, you're the worst king imaginable, and I will do everything to kill you, even if it means death for me myself."

"MAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Wapol just laughed at the kind man's speech. "Yes, I preserved the 20 best doctors all for myself. If a simple peasant of a citizen becomes sick, he could ask me, the great Wapol, to help him or his family. Depending on my mood and the level of his submissiveness, I would send all of Isshi-20 to help him or his family. I did that so no one opposes my reign.", he told everyone.

This was the last straw. Dalton attempted to kill the obnoxious man after jumping at him, but the clown Chess stopped him by pointing his bow loaded with 3 arrows at a mob of angry armed civilians approaching the tyrant. "Dalton-san, we're going to help you!"

The bison man placed himself in front of the mob. "Don't! Why would you kill your own people?"

"Hahahahaha!", Chess unscrupulously laughed. "Your kindness was always your weakness, Dalton!"

He shot the arrows at Dalton, who fell on the ground after his chest got pierced by three sharp arrows.

"Maaaaahahahaha! That's what you deserve, Dalton!", the heartless ex-royal snickered. "Men, stay here and watch for dangerous individuals approaching. Chess, Kuromarimo and I will pay a visit to my old castle."

After laughing one more time, Wapol and his henchmen began walking to Drum Castle.

…

 _Present timeline:_

"Dalton-san!"

Vivi didn't hesistate and raced to the injured. She noted the arrows in his chest. "Can anybody tell me what happened?", the caring princess shouted at the villagers.

"He isn't dead, but heavily injured. He protected us from Chess' arrows.", one man informed.

"Hahahahaha!", the currently highest ranked in-command of Wapol's battallion laughed. "You're nothing without Dalton! How pathetic!"

Before anyone could notice, Zoro punched him in the head and knocked him out. The reason for that was his coat. After putting on the coat, the swordsman sighed from euphoria. He was no longer feeling cold. "Ahhhhh, thanks for the coat, how warm!"

The remaining soldiers of Wapol's army got mad at this. "Kill him now!", they yelled at the same time, but were silenced by a few slashes to their bodies.

"Hah, what a bunch of weaklings!", the green-haired scoffed with his all-known mean-looking grin.

"Yaaaaaaaay, you saved us!", the townspeople exclaimed. After another hero-like action against their former evil king, the people of Drum, mostly from Bighorn, started liking the Straw Hats.

"Everyone, this isn't the right time to celebrate, we need to help Dalton-san!", the Alabastan interrupted, demanding for attention.

"You're right.", a bearded man spoke. "He needs medical support."

Everyone helped carrying the bull man into his home. His state was nowhere near as critical as Nami's, so he was able to be treated at home. 'Wapol, Chess, Kuromarimo… I'm going to make you pay, believe it!'

…

Two people were living inside Drum Castle, an old woman over the age of 130, who was the only doctor of Drum, Dr. Kureha, and a 15-year-old reindeer. The strange one of them was not the doctor who lived way longer than most humans would, the strange one was her apprentice, a reindeer who had eaten the Hito Hito no mi at a very young age, Tony Tony Chopper. He'd gained the ability to think and talk like a human. After the consumption of his Zoan devil fruit, he was deemed too "different" by his fellow reindeers and then disowned. Following this event, he has lived a sad life, until becoming an apprentice of the witch Dr. Kureha.

The reindeer-human hybrid posessed a good nose, which was colored blue. He was able to smell a person far away, even in snow. "Dr. Kureha, I'm smelling something ourside!", Chopper reported. His nature was nervous, yet energetic.

Kureha grunted. "Then go outside and tell me who it is."

Chopper sped outside. The devil fruit user was born fast, faster than a human. He still was, after becoming human-like. After looking down the mountain, where he smelled the humans, he stared at them in disbelief. The poor reindeer boy who had seen many horrible things, yet hadn't seen much of the world, saw, of all things, flying humans. He then proceeded to scream.

"Chopper, what is it?", the 139-year-old called after opening the door.

"I see humans… flying humans!"

Believing that her student had hallucinations, she rushed to Chopper. What he said wasn't wrong: two humans were walking in the air, which was like flying. "What?!"

Meanwhile, Luffy and Sanji saw two figures standing in front of their destination. An incredibly old lady and a toddler-sized reindeer-human hybrid with light brown fur wearing a pink hat and purpleish-maroon shorts. 'Chopper!'

"Oi!", the blond yelled. "Are you the witch doctor everyone's talking about?"

"Yes, that's me.", the witch confirmed. "What do you want from me?"

The Geppo/Sky Walk users were wheezing after their strenuous way to the castle. "Please, save my nakama. She's deadly sick!", the strawhat asked her.

"Yes!", Sanji begged, still wheezing. "Please save Nami-san, otherwise she'll die."

"Hmmmmmm.", Kureha thought out loud, her chin resting in her hand. "What do I get for it?"

"WHAAAAAT?! You witch, our nakama is dying and y-", the pirate cook furiously shouted, but the old woman cut him off.

"It was a joke, I accept. AND WHAT DID YOU CALL ME, BRAT?", she roared, kicking him off the mountain with her powerful legs. Luckily for him, the 19-year-old managed to control the situation and escaped death by falling, using Sky Walk.

Luffy sighed in relief. "So you are going to heal Nami?", he beamed, his eyes full of joy.

"You can count on it. Now come in, or else you'll get a cold.", the very old doctor spoke, changing her expression again. She was a champion in changing her expression in the middle of a sentence, just like Jesus Burgess was a wrestling champion.

…

Dr. Kureha was making tea for the fine visitors, while Chopper was treating the sick visitor. His teacher told him exactly how much of which medicine he must use.

After some time, when the navigator's temperature got enormously lower, she gained conciousness and needed some time to adjust her eyes. Once that finished, she saw a weird reindeer-like small human, a sight not even the (former) sanest person on Going Merry could explain. "Who or what are you?"

Chopper flinched at that. 'Oh no, she saw me! What should I do now? Hide maybe?'. Some more seconds passed until the cowardly reindeer screamed and hid behind the wall next to the door in the next room, slowly showing his small head.

"That's not really hiding.", the ginger said, frowning. "And what exactly are you?"

"Sh-shut up human!", the hybrid angrily shouted. "How's your temperature?". The brown-furred imitated his instructor's speaking habit quite well.

"It talked!"

"AAAAAAAAH!", Chopper screamed, before running into a store room, colliding with a shelf and causing a mess and making lots of noise. The human saw him as some kind of a monster, hearing him speak. This was what made the human Zoan go crazy.

"Don't make such noise, Chopper!". Kureha walked into the room where the ginger's bed was. She, the old woman herself, put the orange-haired into that bed so her extraordinary student could treat her. "Ah, you're awake. How fine."

Nami frowned again. "Who are you, old lady?", she asked, her cheeks red from fever.

The doctor drank a little out of her bottle of wine. "I am Doctor Kureha, call me Doctorine. AND I'M NOT AN OLD LADY, I'M IN MY BEST AGE!"

This time, she twitched. Drum's only doctor touched her forehead. "*Gulp gulp* 38,2°. Hmmm, that kid did a good job there.", the white-haired observed, drinking her alcohol. "Girl, could you pull up your shirt?"

Complying, the teen pulled up her shirt. She was shocked as she saw purple spots on her belly. "Aha, this was the cause.", mumbled. "It's a bite from Kestia, a venomous insect extinct for over 100 years. They still live in prehistoric islands though. Tell me, were you walking on one of those islands with a bra?"

The young girl turned red from shame. Her doctor observed this and smirked. "What's that? Seems like you're ashamed. Young people are so silly…"

"Doctorine", the patient asked. "What exactly is my disease?"

Kureha sat on the side of her bed. "This disease, my foolish little girl, is called the '5-day disease', a disease lasting for 5 days, even without treatment. It causes high fever over 40 degrees, abnormal pain and many other things you don't want to have. You should be lucky for getting treated, anybody would die in 5 days without treatment.", she told, making the 18-year-old sigh in relief.

"Thank you for saving me, Doctorine."

The old doctor just laughed. "Hahaha, good one! No, seriously, thank Chopper, he was the one who healed you, not me."

"So that tanuki's name is Chopper.", Nami murmured, trying to stand up. The old lady stopped her.

"Don't stand up now, kid, you need to fully recover before standing up.", the 139-year-old scolded the navigator. "If you need something, I'll bring it to you."

"It's fine…"

…

Dr. Kureha went back to the kitchen, opting to have a talk with the pirates. "Your friend is going to get well soon, a day or two more, and she'll be able to go with you."

"Witch doctor,", Luffy began, "can we take Chopper with us as our doctor?"

Upon hearing that question, she spat out her newly made tea. "Whaaat?! Take Chopper with you? No, impossible."

"Why not?", the pirate captain asked, refusing her refusal. "He's a good doctor, and Sanji and I like him already. So why can't he be our new nakama?"

The tall white-haired sighed. "Listen, I wouldn't mind if you take Chopper with you, but the thing is, it's virtually impossible.", she spoke in a calm yet serious tone.

"And why's that?", the 17-year-old further questioned.

"It's because he strongly dislikes humans.", the 'witch of Drum' explained. "When he was just a baby, he was ignored and treated badly by his reindeer tribe because of his blue nose. Things only got worse when he ate the Hito Hito no mi, and became human-like. After that, every single one of his tribe made it clear that they didn't want him and then those bloody animals disowned him. He had no friends as a reindeer, so he tried to become friends with humans. To his bad luck, immediately after he was sighted by humans, they called him a yeti, an abominable snowman, or even worse, a monster. He was hated by reindeers for having a blue nose and being human-like, and hated by humans for not being a human and a 'monster'. Poor little Chopper was hunted by humans until one day, when they severly injured him, almost killing the poor thing. An old friend of mine, Dr. Hiluluk, saw how bad Chopper's life was, so he took him in as his son, named him Tony Tony Chopper, and looked after his wounds. Together, they had fun, and Chopper finally had a friend. But there wasn't going to be a happy ending for them. Hiluluk suffered from terminal, incurable disease. He truly believed blossoms from the Sakura tree could heal every disease in the world, so he spent 30 years of his life on a Sakura blossom medicament, to heal everything and everybody. One day, when Chopper's wounds fully healed, he threw him out. His reason was, that he didn't want his adopted son to see him die. On one of our conversations, curious little Chopper secretly listened and found out the shocking truth. Believing that the skull on the Jolly Roger of Hiluluk was the symbol of healing everything, he, Chopper, made his way to find the Amiudake, a mushroom capable of killing a grown human in 12 hours. Hiluluk initially welcomed his son hostilly, but after hearing what his beloved son did for him, he broke out in tears. Wapol, who was king at the time, set a trap for the two remaining doctors not under him, me and Hiluluk. He was so gullible and stubborn, refusing to not treat anyone sick. He consumed a soup made out of Amiudake and told Chopper he was feeling well. Before leaving for Drum Castle, where that bastard called king lived prior to his escape, Hiluluk visited me one more time, telling me he had finally finished his all-curing medicine. Right before leaving, he asked me to fulfill his last two wishes: Taking care of Chopper and looking after his precious medicament. When it was too late, Chopper found out he poisoned his father, and even worse, his dad was going to die due to the trap Wapol set for him. He ran, ran for his father's life, but Hiluluk blew himself up in front of the king, dying. After that, Chopper was trying to kill Wapol. Luckily for him, Dalton, who changed after Hiluluk's speech and death, held him back, stating he'd die if he tried. For standing against his king, Dalton was thrown into prison and abused, until that coward fled. I took Chopper in as my apprentice, teaching him everything I knew as a doctor. Today, he can heal almost anything, but the question is, can you heal him? Poor Chopper still has scars in his heart, that can only be healed by friends. If you help him find a place in the world, you can take him with you."

Luffy's blood was boiling. In his previous life, he hadn't heard of his future doctor's backstory, but now, he was more than willing to help his future friend. "Yosh!", he exclaimed, slamming his fists on the table. "After hearing this sad story, I will definitely heal his scars in his heart. I'm going to take him into my crew, where he will be my nakama. On my ship, he will have friends, friends who deeply care for him. He will never feel lonely again! He saved my nakama's life, and I can only repay him by giving him a better life. Chopper is a great person, and I don't care if he's a human, reindeer, or whatever. He's a something, no, a somebody! Chopper, if you hear me, then be my friend!"

Meanwhile, in the store room next to the kitchen, a certain reindeer was crying his eyes out. In not even one minute, he has received more humanity than in his entire life. He walked back to the room where Nami was lying.

"Erm, excuse me?", the kind doctor nervously asked for attention.

"What is it?", the ginger asked.

"What do you think of me?"

Chopper was expecting something about "You're a monster", or "A talking reindeer, how bizarre", but to his surprise, the answer was extremely nice.

"I like you. You're a cute, lovable, nice, kind thing, who is the best doctor I've seen and saved my life. Thank you for that one, Chopper."

Secretly, Chopper was super happy on the inside, but continued with his questions concerning himself. "Do you think I'm a monster?"

"A monster? No way, how could someone as good and nice as you be a monster? That's ridiculous!", the human said, gently laughing. "Your blue nose is cute by the way."

After hearing her responding so good again, he blushed and danced like a freak, moving his limbs and body like an eel. "Don't think that makes me happy, you jerk, even if it does make me happy."

"Hahahahaha!", the pirate laughed, amused by the blue-nosed's nervousness. "Hey Chopper, do you want to go to the sea with us? You could be our doctor, and together with us, you would have lots of fun."

The mammal glared at her, his eyes looking like the ones of a puppy. He then proceeded to cry and run away.

"Huh, did I say something wrong?"

'I don't even know these people yet I want to be with them. They said so many good things about me and even offered me to become my friend. If only I had the guts to ask Doctor Kureha.', Chopper thought, running to the hallway.

…

When the reindeer with his good nose reached the hallway, he smelled something evil in the far. He knew this smell from 6 years ago, where his father died. Aware of the danger, he rushed to the kitchen to inform the others.

"Dr. Kureha!", the soon-to-be pirate doctor yelled, informing everyone inside. "I smell something bad… Wapol is here!"

…

"Grrrrrr!", the metal man grumbled. "First this damn avalanche and then those pesky lapahns! Can't one have a peaceful walk to his castle?"

The former captain of the Bliking Pirates had arrived in front of his former residence and beamed from happiness, until he discovered Hiluluk's flag on top of the highest tower. "Kureha!", the cruel purple-haired shouted. "I have been informed you moved into my palace during my absence, you witch! And not only that, you changed the flag of the Drum Kingdom with a pirate flag! This will have consequences for you!"

"I burned it.", the current owner of Drum Castle spoke. She came out of the castle after opening the door, along with a reindeer and two young men. "You do not deserve Drum Castle, brat. Your Drum Kingdom will never rise again."

Kuromarimo's eyes opened wide up, as if he was seeing Drum Castle burn or his king die. "King Wapol, look! The Straw Hats are also here."

"Huh?", Wapol loudly growled out, remembering him being sent flying by the strawhat. "Strawhat! You're also going to pay, I promise it!"

Luffy silently walked over to his enemy, making everyone freeze. He was sure looking threatening and imposing. In a flash, the boy's facial expression changed into that of an enraged warrior, and he punched the obnoxious ex-ruler in his face, sending him straight to the edge of the mountain. "Shut up already, asshole! You have no business here!"

"King Wapol!", his loyal followers exclaimed, running over to him. Their king received a bad bruise in his face.

"Grrrrrr, you're going to pay for what you did to his Excellency!", Chess called, angered by the 17-year-old's actions.

"Wait up Chess.", the afro man spoke. "Let me deal with them first."

"Eleki-Marimo!". He threw an afro from his hand at Sanji, who tried to kick it away. Just as the black-haired expected, his afro adhered onto the blond's leg.

"What the hell is this?", Sanji shouted in disbelief, trying to shake the hair-ball off. "Static electricity?"

"Correct.", Kuromarimo said, smirking wickedly. "My afros which I'm proud of don't come off that easily due to their static electricity."

"Take that off, it's disgusting!", the leg fighter continued to yell, desperately trying to shake it off.

The captain walked over to his cook, coated his arm in haki and removed the hair-ball from his suit. Chopper, who had never seen such thing, asked what it is. "Strawhat, why did your arm turn black?"

"This", Luffy explained, "is the power of a monster, a bigger monster than you ever were, although you never were one. And for the future, call me Luffy."

Chopper smiled at that. 'There are humans who are bigger monsters than me? I guess I'm not alone.'

"Hey Chopper.", Sanji spoke, getting the cute doctor's attention. "Look at what a monster can do. Mouton Shot!"

He flipped into the air and delivered a powerful kick to Wapol's hairy henchman's midsection, knocking him out.

"Kuromarino!", his clown partner yelled, getting furious about the attack. "That's it, no one kicks the king's men and gets away with it, perhabs a punishment with arrows can make you think straight. Checkmate!"

Chess lit his three arrows on fire and shot them at the blond, who dodged them like nothing and hit his opponent with 'Mouton Shot' again.

"Don't fight a cook of the sea, fool!"

At the same time, Wapol stood up again. He was beyond angry. "Grrrrr, I can't let you live any longer! Now that you made me really angry, I must show you my true Baku Baku powers. Wapol House!"

The devil fruit user slowly turned into a house with cannons. If someone eats the Baku Baku no mi, he or she is granted the power to eat anything except seastone. After eating things, the user can mutate his or her whole body or parts of it into the exact same thing. Wapol, when he was in Bighorn, ate a house and a cannon.

"Whoa!", Sanji exclaimed. "He turned into a house!"

"Yuck", said Luffy.

"When it comes to omnivores, he really takes the cake."

"Maaaaahahahaha!", the walking house laughed. "I'm not done yet. Baku Baku Factory!"

The tyrant picked up his henchmen who were screaming for their lives, and literally ate them. This was a disgusting thing to watch for everyone, seeing the terrible king even EAT his own people. After he was finished with the process, his door opened and a strange creature came out. "Chessmarimo, Drum's mightiest warrior, come out and crush your enemies!"

Wide-eyed, the defenders of Drum Castle gazed at the fusion of Chess and Kuromarino, now Chessmarimo. The fusion had 2 heads, 4 arms, and looked overall creepy. His new weapons were 4 axes, 4 hammers, Kuromarimo's afros and Chess' arrows. "Hahahahaha!". Chessmarimo's voice sounded like both component's voices combined.

"Chopper", the rubber man spoke. "Can you defeat this abomination?"

"Eeeeeeeeeeh?", the hybrid yelled, staring at his future captain in disbelief. "You want me to defeat that guy?"

"You know, I want to see your powers. Being a reindeer-human hybrid should make you powerful, don't you think so too?", the 17-year-old questioned, deliberately making the brown-furred feel confident in himself.

"You're right.", the young doctor said. "I'm going to defeat him with my Rumble Ball."

Firmly believing he could beat four-armed Chessmarimo, he swallowed a yellow sphere-shaped drug called Rumble Ball. "With that, I can beat him in 3 minutes."

"3 minutes?!", Wapol's product sneered. "How can such a small and weak thing like you beat me in three minutes? Don't make me laugh!"

Chopper smirked. "Oh, I'll show you small! Jumping Point!". He grew to the size of a tall human, over two meters. This form of his was human-like, so his antlers disappeared.

Chessmarimo laughed again. "So you're taller now? Still pathetic! Yukidoke no Ya Marimo!"

The fusion shot four burning arrows at the yeti-like hybrid in human-like state, but the hybrid effortlessly dodged them, due to his superior jumping power.

"Ha!", Two-head snickered. "If arrows can't kill you, then hammers will do the job. Dobikkuri Marimo, Quatro Hammer!"

"Arm Point!", Chopper exclaimed. He was still the same size as in Jumping Point, but his arm muscles increased in size and hardened. With these arms, he effortlessly destroyed Chessmarimo's hammers.

"Alright!", the 'Mightiest warrior of Drum' snarled, gritting his 64 teeth. "You've had enough fun, it's time to get serious! Dobikkuri Marimo, Quatro Axe!"

Wapol's creation pulled out his strongest weapons, four large red axes. His next attack would be deadly for normal people. "Happo Yukidaore!"

Chessmarimo charged at the young doctor, swinging his four axes wildly. The future pirate knew he couldn't win with aimlessly hitting his enemy, so he reverted back to Brain Point, to figure out the axe-wielder's weakness. "Scope!"

Chopper scanned his opponent with his superior intelligence, his good eyes and his hooves held like a scope. Once he found out his opponent's weakness was his chin, the reindeer transformed to Arm Point again, preparing for his final attack. "Kokutei Roseo!"

The combination of Clown and Afro Man was sent flying in the air after a devastating hit to Afro Man's chin. The hit was so hard, Chopper's hooves left an imprint looking like a Sakura petal.

After the defeat of his best 'man', Wapol finally lost his mind. "THAT WAS THE LAST STRAW, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU ALL!", the ex-king hysterically screamed, loading his cannons.

At the same time, Luffy's patience with Wapol was wearing thin. In his current life, the metal man was the nastiest, most annoying person he's met. Abruptly, the future pirate king activated his Armament haki and made sure to hurt the evil man as much as possible. "Gomu Gomu no Marunoko!"

The teen stretched his arms and grabbed Wapol, while he winded himself up like a bow gun. Then he kicked off from the ground and delivered the hated big-eater a haki headbutt, sending him flying to the place the strawhat sent him in his former life. 'Good riddance asshole, that was far less than you deserved for what you did to Chopper and your people.'

…

Dalton was watching everything from the Drum Ropeway. Sitting in his trolley, he witnessed little Chopper beating Chessmarimo, and Luffy finally removing Wapol from the island. The bison man now thought, that not every pirate was evil. Beside him, there were Vivi, Usopp, Zoro and some other villagers.

 _15 minutes ago:_

After Zoro defeated Wapol's soldiers, the Isshi-20 wanted to treat the injured Zoan user, but the townspeople stopped them from doing so.

"You're Wapol's doctors!", they called, distrusting them. "You're traitors to our country, stay away from Dalton!"

"But people,", one of them calmed the crowd down, "we hated Wapol just like you."

"Yeah.", another man said. "We only joined him to improve our medical skills, so when he fell, we could heal our people."

"It's okay.", Dalton spoke, coughing heavily. "These people are not evil. They have suffered just as much as us, maybe even more. Please, accept them again."

"If Dalton says so.", the villagers muttered, leaving the doctors alone.

"Okay.", the oldest of the Isshi-20 declared. "Get Dalton-san to his house, we're going to operate him."

After the successful operation of the bull man, some villagers and the Straw Hats in Bighorn decided to go up the mountain with the Drum Ropeway.

…

When Dalton and the other arrived at Drum Castle, the devil fruit user immediately approached the captain, the cook and the reindeer. "Thank you very much, you saved our country.", he spoke, expressing his gratitude.

The villagers who came with Dalton, and Usopp, weren't so grateful. "It's the Abominable Snowman, the monster of Drum Island!", they shouted as they saw Chopper.

"AAAAAAH!", the latter screamed, running around some trees. He was saddened again by the humans not tolerating him.

Infuriated by the ungrateful people calling his soon-to-be nakama a monster, the black-haired distributed bumps to everyone calling him a monster. "Be quiet, idiots! He's not a goddamn monster, ever thought about how that poor thing must feel?"

Hearing the 17-year-old's words, Chopper looked at him from behind a tree. Only his head was visible. Also, Chopper got a closer look of Dalton's face. Despite not being in his bison form, the reindeer recognized him from 6 years earlier. He was the person who prevented him from unnecessarily getting killed by the man who was the reason his father died. Dalton also focused on Chopper's face. They hugged.

"So you've been fighting for 6 years.", Dalton remarked, tears in his eyes.

 _Flashback:_

 _Angry Chopper in Heavy Point was running at Wapol, who laughed about his father's death. Before the king could take action against the reindeer wanting to kill him, Dalton stepped in. He pinned the sad and super infuriated Chopper on the floor and warned him._

" _Sorry if he laughed about his death, but if you can't beat me, then you can't beat HIM. It would be too much of a shame if you died a dog's death, so return, and be strong."_

 _After that speech, the sensible reindeer-human hybrid had more tears in the eye than the bison hybrid. He turned around, and never came back again while Wapol was reigning._

 _Flashback end_

"And you are really stronger."

The crying Zoans were left alone for some time.

…

Following the events, the people of Drum threw a banquet for the Straw Hats, and Kureha had a big surprise for her apprentice. After Luffy finished eating countless boars, chicken, and even reindeer, which Chopper didn't mind since he hated Drum's ones, the pirate captain had a talk with the future king of the future Sakura Kingdom.

"What is going to happen with this island?", the 80 Million man asked.

Dalton looked down. "I didn't want to be king first, but now I realized this country needs change, lots of change. And even if I still didn't want to be king, the people would vote for me anyway.", he muttered.

"If you think this country needs change,", the strawhat spoke, "then be the one who changes things. You seem like a good man to me."

"Yeah.", Dalton laughed a bit. "And you don't seem like a bad pirate for me. Actually, most of the island thinks so after they learned about your and your crew's doings. Especially Bighorn's people"

"Speaking of pirates,", the man who'll defeat Crocodile began, "if you hang flags of my crew on your island, it would mean that this island is under my protection."

"Excuse me but that's not possible!", the man in green exclaimed. "Drum island is a member of the World Government, they would not allow that. Besides, why would you do that for us? You only know us for a day, and we weren't nice to you at the beginning."

"Because", he said in a calm tone, "this island is the birthplace of Chopper. I'm going to make him the doctor of my ship. And about the part with the World Government, don't worry, they won't care anyway. Look at all the islands belonging to the Yonko, and I don't even demand anything in return from you."

Dalton opened his mouth first, but gave in seconds later. That was a friendly offer of a man who actually did something good for them. "Fine, Drum's under your protection now."

Smiling, the future pirate king went back to the castle. 'Great, so now only one thing is missing.'

…

Inside, Luffy found Chopper and asked him the inevitable. "Chopper, do you want to join my crew and our adventures? We need a great doctor like you."

Moved to tears by this incredible offer, the reindeer remembered all the good things they did for him and said about him, so he accepted. "Yes yes yes! I want to join you and be your friend!"

"Yosh!", the 17-year-old cheerfully exclaimed. "So it's settled then. Welcome, Chopper, from now on, you're my doctor and nakama."

"But", his new nakama spoke in a low and sad voice, "I don't think Doctor Kureha will let me go that easily, same for that girl. She said she wants to keep her in bed for 2 more days."

"Aha.". Luffy nodded. "I'll tell you what, how about we sneak out?"

Chopper was excited about this idea. "Ohh, this sounds fun, I'm in!", he beamed with stars in his eyes.

"Okay, I'll tell the others, meet me at the main enterance.", the black-haired called, running away.

…

The rubber man gathered his crew at the castle's door, with their new doctor serving as a getaway vehicle. With Kureha being absent, helping the villagers set up her student's surprise, they had a good chance of getting away. But the old woman wasn't dumb, she figured the 'brats' would try to get away without saying anything, so she went after them, throwing sharp weapons at the pirates.

"Chopper!", she yelled, throwing an axe. "You're staying here, understand? I'm not allowing you to become a pirate, you're my son!"

"AAAAAAAAAH! RUN, CHOPPER!", the Straw Hats screamed, sitting in a sleigh pulled by Chopper in Walk Point, his natural reindeer form.

When they were too far away, the white-haired stopped throwing weapons at them. "Oh Chopper", she quietly and happily mumbled to herself. "You're growing up so fast."

Dalton approached her from behind, curious about the surprise. "Dr. Kureha,", he asked, "what exactly is the surprise?"

"Tz Tz", the old lady cackled. "You're going to see soon enough."

Despite her old age, Kureha had good eyesight. When she saw that the ship of the Straw Hats departed, she ordered the villagers to shoot out the surprise.

On all of Drum's mountains, several cannons were aimed at the sky. The surprise was inside. After the oldest person on the island gave the permission, the men shot the surprise in the sky. But what was the surprise? Sakura blossom powder, lots of Sakura blossom powder. Mixing with the snow, the entire Winter Island turned pink, and resembled a Sakura tree. This was Kureha's way of saying goodbye.

…

Meanwhile on Merry, the Straw Hats declared this as the most beautiful thing they have ever seen, especially Chopper, who broke out crying. Sakura blossoms were good memories of his deceased father, who made the reindeer cry, always.

His nakama, who hated to see one of them cry, tried to cheer him up. "You shouldn't cry.", Luffy spoke. "I'm sure _he_ wants to see you happy and smiling right now, not sad and crying."

"Yeah.", Zoro reassured him. "I think this is a good memory where you should smile, like I do."

"I've heard your story and I was speechless.", Sanji began. "For your future I wish good memories outweigh bad ones."

"I haven't heard your story, but you talked about friends, right? From now on, you don't have to worry about two things: friends and friendship.", Nami promised him.

"Sorry for calling you a monster, that was dumb from me.", Usopp apologized. "Thinking about it, you're the coolest thing I've ever seen."

"Just like the others, I like you too, you adorable little thing.", Vivi told.

"Kwaa kwaa (Do you want to be my friend)?", Carue asked.

Chopper ceased to cry over Hiluluk's memories, but was now about to cry due to the friendly words of his nakama. It was too much for the emotional reindeer.

"THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING, MY FRIENDS!"

"WELCOME, CHOPPER!"

Alabasta was forgotten for the night, everything that mattered was the party thrown in honor of the Straw Hat Pirates' new doctor.

* * *

 **Irony. Originally, I expected this chapter to be shorter, but boy, I needed 4 days for the longest chapter so far. Constructive criticism allowed. Rate and review if you like.**


	13. C13: Brotherly Reunion

**Never Again!**

 **Since Alabasta is way too long to be covered in one chapter, I'll split it in two, maybe even three, who knows?**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**

* * *

 **Chapter 13: Brotherly Reunion**

The next day, one day before reaching Alabasta, the Straw Hats encountered a pink ship full of strange okamas. One "man" was especially odd.

"Oi oi, hello there!", he called, leaping onto Merry over his ship's railing. "What are you doing on sea on such a day?"

'Bon-chan, how I miss you, old friend!', Luffy thought, remembering the days in Impel Down. "We are going to Alabasta right now, where did you come from."

"Ahh.", the black-haired man wearing makeup and a pink cape spoke. "I came from Little Garden, where I wanted to search for Three-chan, but sadly, he wasn't there. Anyway, do you want to see my devil fruit power?"

"Yes.", the other black-haired responded, knowing what the queer's power was already. The next thing he felt was a hit in his face from Bon Kurei's hand.

His nakama were shocked. A random stranger hit their captain in his face, not knowing how powerful he was. Zoro drew Wado in retaliation, but the swan-man stopped him by waving his hands.

"Wait! Wait! Wait! I told you I'm gonna show you my devil fruit power, this is just for entertainment, so give me a break!"

Most Straw Hats were even more shocked. The "man" in front of them now had Monkey D. Luffy's face and even his voice!

"Surprised? Surprised? Surprised? Hahahahaha!", 'Luffy' laughed, dancing ballet.

"And if I touch my face with my left hand…", he continued, touching his face with his left hand, "I return to normal. See? That's the power of the Mane Mane no mi I ate.". Mr. 2 now had his normal face, body and voice.

"Wow, even the voice.", Usopp remarked, slightly impressed by the Baroque agent's abilities. Some others, Nami, Vivi and Zoro to be exact, were repulsed by that.

"Amazing!", the 17-year-old exclaimed, while his future friend was touching the cheeks of Usopp, Nami, Chopper and Zoro, who were standing on the main part of the deck, to copy their faces too.

"Look at me!", the Imitating Human ordered, getting everyone's attention. "Everything I have to do… Is touching other's faces… With my right hand… So I can copy everything.". The order went from the sniper, over the swordsman and the doctor, to the navigator. As the last imitation, Bon Kurei stepped in front of the youngest three permanent Straw Hat Pirates and opened his coat, showing them the ginger's bare chest. "Bodies too."

Mr. 2 really didn't expect a fist to his head, leading to a bump. The orange-haired claimed he, the Baroque agent, was giving them, the non-adult Straw Hats, the wrong idea, since their faces popped out upon the sight of breasts.

"Stop it!"

"Ouch!"

The childish trio kneeled down to the okama, barring Chopper who was short enough to stand, to check on him. "Are you okay?"

Bon Kurei rubbed his head. "If that is upsetting the lady, I might show you something else."

"You're amazing, do more!", they cheered like fanboys, while Luffy was only faking it, despite liking his future fellow escapee of Impel Down.

The queer began dancing like a ballerina again. "Furthermore, I am equipped with a memory feature. Here we go!", he spoke, changing his face to the ones of men he had seen before. One of his imitations was an imitation of Alabasta's king Cobra Nefeltari.

Vivi, who was standing on a higher stage of the main deck, gasped for air. She realized Mr. 2 from Baroque works was on their ship and impersonated her father.

After his show was finished, Mr. 2 danced with Luffy, Usopp and Chopper, who he had impressed and now befriended, like monkeys. "You know, I like you guys.", he said, serious again. "I'd like to stay more with you, but I gotta go now, work is calling."

His new friends, especially the marksman and the reindeer, were sad about him leaving. "Please don't go!", the darker-skinned begged with watery eyes.

"I know it's sad,", the okama with hairy legs stated, "but journeys are always accompanied by farewells, don't forget this. We're friends, right? Friendship has nothing to do with how long we've known each other."

Bentham, the real name of Bon Kurei, then leaped like a ballerina with open legs over Merry's railing to his own ship. "Don't cry!", the fan of Emporio Ivankov yelled during the process.

"See you again!", the youngest male Straw Hats shouted after him, eager to see their friend again.

Later, after Mr. 2's ship powered by rotating disks disappeared in the far, Vivi told everybody the person they recently saw was one of the highest ranked Baroque agents. She also told them about the fact that he imitated her father.

"Wait a minute.", the green-haired spoke, realizing something. "If a bad person could imitate a king, he could do bad things as him."

"Not only that.", the ginger added, realizing something worse. "We've seen his powers, and if he transformed into one of us, we couldn't trust our own friends."

Learning from the past and being overall smarter, the strawhat acted like the crew's brain again. "Actually, it's good that we saw him."

"What's good about that?", the others questioned him, lifting their eyebrows.

"Easy. We can figure out counter measures.", the boy in red explained.

"He's right. Let's do this!"

Suddenly, Sanji came out of the kitchen, being finished with his meal. "Oi, it's time to- what are you doing?"

Everyone, even Carue, sighed in annoyance. It would need a lot of explanation and even more time to get Sanji up to date.

"At first, this Mr. 2 guy…"

…

One day later, Merry docked at a remote beach in Nanohana, Alabasta's port town. The kingdom was a summer island with a big, hot desert covering the entire area. Its climate was so hot, all Straw Hats were sweating, especially Chopper due to his fur and him being used to the cold climate of Drum.

Nami was acting like the crew's mother again and gave instructions to everyone about not standing out, not getting lost and so on.

Luffy however, wouldn't listen to her. He didn't need that kind of information. Before she, or anyone else could notice, the 17-year-old got off the ship and sped towards the restaurant where he came across Ace and Smoker in his previous life. 'Should I crash into them again or not? Nah, the first option is cooler!', he thought, silently laughing about his future action and the priceless looks on the faces of Ace and Smoker.

…

"… and that's why Sanji and Chopper should go shopping and acquire us a disguise.", the navigator finished her sentence. She looked around, and couldn't find her overly fast captain who would never listen, making her upset again.

"Where did that imbecile run off to again?!", the short-tempered roared with sharp teeth.

Sanji's eyes turned into hearts. "Oh Nami-swan, you're so hot when you're angry!"

Her friend Vivi calmed her down. "Don't be angry Nami-san, Luffy-san can look after himself, he's strong and you know that."

"Meh.", Zoro let out, shrugging. "Yes, Luffy is strong enough, but the problem is, he is a master at drawing attention to oneself. This is the exact reason why he can't be left alone for longer than 5 minutes or even worse, let running off during a secret mission."

"We will find him sooner or later,", the Vinsmoke spoke, becoming serious again, "so don't bother searching him. Let's get off and find a safe spot to hide first."

After agreeing to their cook, the rest of the Straw Hats left their ship for Nanohana.

…

Two minutes later, after finding a place to hide relatively close to the sea, a torn old building where only the brittly grey walls remained, Zoro, Nami, Vivi and Usopp waited for Sanji and Chopper to return from shopping. From those two, only one would return.

"Oi Chopper, wait outside, I don't think they'll accept reindeers inside.", the cook said, standing in front of a clothing store.

"Okay will do.", his nakama replied, trying to wait for him outside in the sun.

Shortly after the fighting cook entered the shop, the heat bothered the brown-furred so much, he started looking for another place. 'AAH, I can't stand this! Let's go check for somewhere cool.'

The reindeer-human hybrid looked around. He discovered a room free from sunlight. Not knowing that 'room' was the back part of a wagon, Chopper climbed inside. The cool air of the wagon was so pleasant for the hybrid, he slowly fell asleep. 'It's so good! No, I can't fall asleep! Maybe a little! No, no, my friends need me, Sanji needs me! Okay, one minute, not more!' were his last thoughts before he started snoring. Directly after that, the wagon pulled by a camel headed to Katorea.

Coincidentally, the leg fighter who finished his purchase left the shop and walked past the leaving wagon. He wondered where his friend and drudge was. "Chopper?", the blond loudly asked. "Chopper, where are you?"

After unsuccessfully searching for the devil fruit user, Sanji returned to his nakamas' hiding, feeling regret.

"Where's Chopper?", was the first thing his nakama asked when the cook returned.

"I don't know.", the pervert admitted, looking down. "I told him to wait outside, but he disappeared. My search for him was unsuccessful."

The swordsman shook his head. "Damn it!", he cursed. "Another crewmember split up. We must keep together."

Nami stood up. "I agree with you. We must stay together, but first, let's dress up."

…

One minute later, the Straw Hat Pirates looked like citizens of Alabasta – with the exception of the females, who looked like dancers.

"Did you really have to buy us these outfits?", the bluenette asked, somewhat disappointed in the ero-cook.

"Yes I had to!", the lady lover claimed, smoke coming out of his nose like a bull.

"Typical.", the ginger slightly complained. "At least I didn't have to spend a single Berry."

The group of six, including Carue, wanted to leave their safe spot, but when the green-haired stuck out his head, he sighted Captain Smoker and Master Chief Petty Officer Tashigi of the Marines.

'Fuck!', the first mate thought. 'Why are they here? Did they really come all the way from the East Blue to arrest us? Those are the people we need the LEAST here, especially HER.'

Zoro was still not over Tashigi's resemblance to that of his childhood friend. The longer he stared at her, the worse the feeling got.

"Tashigi!", Smoker barked at her, making his blue-haired subordinate flinch, then turn around.

"Y-yes Smoker-san?"

"I am sure Strawhat's here in Alabasta along with his crew. You know why we came here, right?"

"Uhm,", the female swordsman slowly repeated, "to arrest Strawhat Luffy and his crew then send them to Impel Down."

"That's right!", the cigar-smoker energetically retorted. "You take my men and search for his crew while I go defeat him by myself, understand?"

She gave him a salute. "Yes Sir! I won't disappoint you!"

"That's good.", the White Hunter spoke. "I value you very much, so you better get the job done."

With that, the Marine Captain walked away in hope to catch his enemy.

…

"Fire Fist" Ace was eating rice and meat in a restaurant called Spice Bean. Suddenly, the Yonko Commander fell asleep. Everyone in the restaurant shivered in fear, thinking he was dead. The next moment, the 20-year-old suffering from narcolepsy woke up, making the Alabastans exclaim in disbelief. "HE WAS JUST SLEEPING!"

While the black-haired was eating the next plate, potatoes with chili, a white-haired Marine stepped in. He was wearing a white jacket and carried a jitte with him. That man wasn't very happy to see a pirate, a Whitebeard Pirate to the least. "If that isn't Fire Fist Ace of the Whitebeard Pirates, what are you doing here?", Smoker asked, clenching his fists.

Luffy's brother turned around. "Oh, a Mawine (Marine).", he mumbled, chewing on potato. "*gulp* Nothing, I'm just here to eat."

The people of Alabasta have all heard of the feared and mighty Whitebeard Pirates, but never seen one in person. Some people in the Spice Bean restaurant now have, although they didn't believe that a 'dimwit' how Ace is called by them is under a Yonko. "Whaaaat? How is a dimwit like him a Whitebeard Pirate?"

Smoker stepped a forward a bit. "I know someone important as you isn't here just to eat.", he spoke, making himself ready for an arrest stance. "Why are you really here, _Portgas D. Ace_?"

Roger's son pushed his hat up a little, his eyes were visible now. "Alright, if you're so persistent, I might tell you.". The fire human was giving the Marine his trademark smirk now. "I am looking for my little brother.". He grabbed Luffy's wanted poster and held it in the face of the smoke human.

"I see.", the Captain muttered, clenching his teeth. "Piracy is in the family, huh? Guess what, I came here to arrest your brother."

Ace's confident smirk changed into a threatening smirk. "Don't do that if you know what's good for you."

"You're threatening me?". Smoker also felt the desire to arrest the ex-super rookie. His fists turned into smoke. "As long as I'm a Marine and you're a pirate, I can't allow that."

"Gomu Gomu no…"

Luffy, who was standing about 50 meters away from the restaurant, stretched his arms out to the door and grasped for the edges. 'I can't believe I needed that long to reach the restaurant, my orientation is as bad as Zoro's!', the 17-year-old thought before sending himself flying like a rocket.

"… Rocket!"

Everything went in a flash. Smoker's sentence was cut off, Ace's eyes widened, and both of them were slammed through over TEN walls. The people in the restaurant gaped at the strawhat in disbelief, as if the boy punched an Admiral. Said boy sat down on his brother's rotating chair and asked the almost paralyzed owner of the restaurant for 20 different kinds of dishes and 5 kinds of drinks.

"A- almost there.", the bald chef said, shocked as never in his life before.

20 plates with one dish each were lying on the counter, which the glutton greedily consumed, nearly inhaling. A few buildings away, both men were slowly standing up. Neither one of them could be described as content. "Why you—Who the hell did this?", Ace snarled, emerging from the rubble. "What the hell?", Smoker grunted, knocking dust off his jacket.

The 2nd Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates was the first to stand up. "What's the big idea?", he ranted. "What idiot would do something this crazy?". He walked into Spice Bean through the hole Luffy's entrance created and his facial expression changed. "Hey Lu-"

He was cut off by the man from Loguetown who slammed his skull into the ground upon sighting the strawhat. "Strawhat!", the Marine roared at Luffy, who found this amusing. "I have been looking for you to arrest you."

'Smokey's so funny when he's angry.', the pirate thought, continuing to eat.

A certain white-haired became furious at this. "QUIT EATING!"

Holding up his hand, the teenager asked the White Hunter to wait. The thin boy swallowed the rest of his meal in whole. "Thank you for the meal.", he said to the restaurant's chef, then running away from the cigar smoker.

Ace stood up again, running after his brother, without paying, just like Luffy. "Wait up Luffy, it's me! Hey! Wait up! Hey! Luffy!"

The owner of the shop stared at the three running men in disbelief. "T-they ran off without paying!"

On the run, both captains ran across Tashigi. She noted her superior. "Captain Smoker, do you want a towel, this kingdom certainly is hot."

"Tashigi!", the muscular man called. "Catch that guy, it's Strawhat!"

"Strawhat?!", the blue-haired snapped. "I'll catch him!"

She swung her blade at the 80 Million Berry man, thinking she could catch him, but the future pirate king dodged by jumping on a building, then continuing to run. The future Vice-Admiral followed him.

"Tashigi! Gather the Marines at once! Search every square inch of this town for his crew!"

"Yes Sir!", the glasses-wearing responeded, thinking of an evil Zoro.

Meanwhile, the other Straw Hats except Chopper were still sitting in their hideout. Zoro, the only one who had haki, noticed Marines chasing a familiar aura, Luffy. He then opened his eyes and told the others. "Luffy's being chased by Marines, we gotta do something."

Coincidentally, their captain ran in their direction, being followed by tens of Marines and Captain Smoker. "Oh, there you are guys!"

Usopp facepalmed at Luffy's stupidity. "Luffy, why are you leading them in our direction you idiot?"

"It doesn't matter.", Nami exclaimed. "Run!"

They collected their stuff and started running. Smoker was trying to catch his enemy with 'White Blow', but was stopped by a fire attack.

"Kagero!"

The White Hunter's attack was stopped by a protecting wall of fire. Everybody glanced at the person shooting that stream of fire in disbelief, except Luffy, who smiled at him. "Big brother, it's you!"

"Big brother?!"

Of course, the 17-year-old faked his expression to act like a weak little brother. He didn't want Ace to know his true strength after all.

"Give it up.", the shirtless male spoke to the white-haired. "You are smoke and I am fire, a battle between elements that wouldn't end that soon.". He then turned to his younger brother. "I see you haven't changed at all, Luffy."

"Haha, it's good to see you, Ace.", the teen said, smiling widely.

Whitebeard's second commander became slightly more serious and lowered his hat. "You and your crew, run away, I'll catch up. We can't chat like this."

Luffy nodded in agreement. "Yosh, let's go!", he ordered his nakama, running off.

…

When the Straw Hats were on the beach where their ship was, they encountered Chopper riding a camel. "Tony-kun!", Vivi called. "Where have you been? And who's that camel?"

"Uhm", Chopper began, frowning and getting red. "It's a long story."

 _30 minutes earlier:_

Chopper woke up in the same wagon he fell asleep. "Woah!", he rapidly exclaimed. "How long did I sleep?"

The reindeer got out of the wagon and approached the camel who used to pull it. Because the Straw Hat doctor originally was an animal, he was able to communicate with animals.

"Excuse me!", the blue-nosed spoke up. "Can you tell me where I am, this place looks different to where I've been before."

" _You're in Katorea, kid.",_ the camel answered in his language.

"Katorea?! Oh no, can you tell me how to get to Nanohana?"

" _Just cross the desert in that direction."_ , the saddled animal said. _"But wait a second, how about a deal?"_

"A deal?", the hybrid repeated, confused.

" _Set me free and I'll bring you there."_

Chopper then smirked and transformed to Heavy Point. "You've got yourself a deal!"

After freeing his fellow animal who introduced himself as Eyelashes, the two went back to Nanohana.

 _Present timeline:_

"You were in Katorea?", the princess asked another time, noticeably upset.

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"Because", the royal explained, "Katorea is the Rebel Army's head quarters."

"So?", the swordsman asked, raising his right brow.

The bluenette sighed. "The Rebel Army is the force against the king. Each day they gain more and more followers. Crocodile wants a war between the royal guards of Alabasta and the Rebel Army. Once both factions are heavily weakend, he will make his move to become king of his 'perfect country'.", she explained.

Luffy slammed his right fist against his left palm. "What a swine! Don't worry Vivi, we will prevent the war and kick Crocodile's Shichibukai ass.", he promised his temporary nakama.

"Thanks Luffy-san and all you others, you mean a lot to me."

"No need to thank us, we'd do everything for our friends, and you are our friend.", the black-haired told her. "Now let's get on our ship and wait for Ace."

…

After some time, the captain's brother stepped foot on Merry while overhearing the conversation between his brother and his crew.

"… I never beat Ace as a kid, but I'd kick his ass now.", the 17-year-old claimed, telling his nakama about his older brother and a little of his childhood.

"Whose ass are you going to kick Luffy?", the fire man jokingly asked, jumping on the railing from his Striker raft.

"Shishishi!", the strawhat laughed. "Ace, meet my nakama."

Ace beheld the Straw Hats and made a friendly face. "Thank you all for taking care of my little brother.", he said. "He might be a little hard for you to handle, but…"

"No, not at all.", the crew responded.

"… take good care of him.", the Whitebeard Pirate finished his sentence. He then leaped over to the teen wearing a captain's coat. "Looks good on you, Lu. Seems like you're taking being a captain seriously."

"Of course.", Garp's biological grandson spoke, smiling. "I want to protect my nakama and be a good captain."

Roger's son noticed a barrel on deck. "Hey Lu, how 'bout some arm wrestling to see how strong you've become?"

"Sounds good.", the younger black-haired answered. Seconds later, those two were pushing each other's right arms to their left to see whose arm slams on top of the barrel first. Both of them were getting red. Luffy was holding back of course, but observed that Whitebeard's 2nd Division Commander has gotten stronger too.

"Ace, do you use haki?"

"Yeah.", the freckled responded. "Sabo and I learned how to awaken it. Took us long enough, but we mastered it."

Suddenly, the barrel broke. Looking at each other for a moment, the brothers fell on the floor, laughing like crazy.

"I don't get it.", the long-nosed commented. "What's so funny?"

Unexpectedly, five ships were approaching Merry from the far. Vivi's eyes opened wide up. "It's Baroque works!", she exclaimed, wildly waving her arms.

"Fire Fist Ace and Strawhat Luffy!", a man yelled through a megaphone. "We've come for your bounties. Surrender now or we'll open fire!"

Ace pushed his hat a little deeper. "Let me clean them up.". He jumped on his raft powered by his Mera Mera powers and rode on it towards the enemy ships.

"Try to get past 5 of our ships if you can!", a Baroque agent shouted, challenging the Yonko Commander.

But the 550 Million Berry man didn't fool around. "Hiken!", he cried out, shooting a massive blow of fire from his fist, annihilating the fleet, much to the Straw Hats' amazement.

"Wow!", almost all of them let out with their jaws dropped.

"Amazing, Ace!", the future pirate king exclaimed, the only one smiling.

"Hmpf!", Ace grinned, returning to the ship. "That wasn't much, you know."

Luffy laughed out. "Hahahahaha! You're funny Ace! Say, do you want to join my crew?", he joked.

His brother held his hand up, which meant no. "Nah, I'll pass. But do you want to join Whitebeard with your crew? You'd have lots of fun."

Everybody except 2 on the ship shuddered. "W-w-w-whitebeard?!", the orange-haired fearfully stammered. "One of the freaking Yonko?"

"Don't tell me you're serious!", the sniper yelled, a certain reindeer hiding behind him.

The captain of the Straw Hat Pirates didn't think for long. "No. I want to be Pirate King, not some underling."

Ace laughed out too. "Now I see it, you haven't changed one bit.". He sat down and became a bit more serious. "So Luffy, where are you going?"

Looking around a few times, the 17-year-old spotted his navigator, who surely knew where he and his crew were going. "Nami, where are we going?"

Nami sighed to her captain's cluelessness. "I asked Vivi.", she said. "We're going to Yuba."

"So tell me Ace.", the strawhat spoke in a calm and serious tone, turning around. "Where are you going?"

The young pirate took his hat off and started explaining. "I'm on a mission. An ex-subordinate of mine who calls himself Blackbeard stabbed a crewmember, almost killing him, just for a devil fruit. He basically commited one of the worst sins a pirate could commit on a ship. Following that, he jumped ship and created his own crew. I've received information that Blackbeard has been sighted in Yuba, and that's where I'm going."

"Oh, if we have the same destination, then why don't you hang with us a little, Ace?", Luffy suggested.

Whitebeard's second commander liked that idea. "You know what,", the 20-year-old said, clapping once, "I'm in."

After beaming in excitement, Luffy ordered his cook to make some party dinner and his swordsman to open up some booze who objected. "Hell no Luffy, that's my booze!". Knowing how his captain wouldn't give up, the green-haired decided to give in and share some bottles with his nakama and Ace.

'Ace,', the rubber man thought, 'I won't let you die this time!'

* * *

 **So, that was it for today. Sorry if it has some quality errors, especially in the end part, but I'm running out of originality, so it might seem bland. Also, so far, nobody wanted me to include a question & answer part where you ask me questions related to the story and I answer them. Constructive criticism allowed. Rate and review if you like.**

 **Some bonus information: In my fic, Luffy's height is 184 cm/6'½", which is 10 cm/almost 4" more than in the real story. Reason? Intense and excessive training in his childhood. That means, our favourite strawhat is taller than Zoro after TS and almost as tall as Ace, who stands at 185 cm/6'1". Not only that, he'll grow in the future since he's physically not an adult. A rubber man can stretch, so the user should be fairly tall. What do you think of that? Write it in the comments.**


	14. C14: Desert Walk

**Never again!**

 **So guys, I have decided to split Alabasta into 4 parts. What do you think of that? And also, since I have so far received two reviews with a question, I'll answer them. From today on, I'll answer your questions in the reviews.**

 **Answer to iwish328: Additional crew members will follow in the future, different powers and extra training will appear more frequently in the future, but I have already included it, for example Zoro's haki or some Rokushiki moves. I hope you understand**

 **Answer to Chrisfragger: You're right, he will definitely save his brother. He's only hiding his true power to not get too much attention.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**

* * *

 **Chapter 14: Desert Walk**

The Sandora River was a large river splitting Alabasta in two. On the west half of Alabasta, there were the cities Nanohana, Katorea, and the capital Alubarna. On the east half, the three (ex-)cities were named Erumalu, Yuba and Rainbase. Out of the last three, only Rainbase was a real city. Travel in Alabasta was difficult, since the river was over a mile wide. Before sailing from the east side of the river to the west side, Vivi told Carue to deliver a message to the royal palace of Alubarna. In this message, everything the princess and her 'deceased' bodyguard learned about Baroque works was well documented for the king. "Good luck Carue!", the loving royal called after her duck. "And be careful with your water!"

After the river was easily crossed with Merry, another obstacle waited for them on the other side. Turtle-shelled seals jumped from the water onto rocks on the edge of the wide river.

"What are those, turtles?", Zoro asked, staring at them from the railing.

"They are Kung-Fu dugongs.", the Alabastan informed.

"'If you want to go on shore, you'll have to beat me first. Or else go back to the other shore, cowards!'", Chopper translated from the leader.

"Hah, I can't sit quietly by when someone calls me a coward.", Usopp declared, tons of courage embedded in him. "Let's do this!"

"Wait, Usopp-san!"

Vivi's warning was too late. The sniper jumped over the railing with his fist stretched forward, but was rapidly beaten by the dugong leader. "Kung-Fu dugongs are strong.", the bluenette explained.

In not even a second, Luffy humbled the turtle-like seal, giving him a bump. "Yosh, I won!"

"Winning is bad too.", the blue-haired told him. All dugongs gathered in front of the pirate captain and bowed to him as their new master. "It's a Kung-Fu dugong rule that if someone loses, they become the winner's pupil."

"That's very martial arts-ish.", the swordsman remarked, impressed by the martial arts-animals.

Just for fun, the 17-year-old trained his students for a minute, before wanting to continue his trip to Yuba. But his students were persistent. Almost 50 turtle-seals trailed behind him.

"Dugongs can't cross the desert.", Carue's owner berated her nakama.

Chopper had an idea on how to prevent the dugongs from following them. "Guys, how about we bribe them with food?", he proposed. "If we give them food, they won't follow us. Sanji, can you do that?"

The food expert complained at first, but decided to hand them food a little later. "That was 50% of our food supply.", he groaned. "At least they won't follow us anymore."

Waving their hands, the Kung-Fu dugongs and the Straw Hats said goodbye to each other in their respective languages. The human group had to go to Yuba, not stay and play with turtle-shelled seals.

…

Erumalu was a dry, deserted town. Sand was flowing through buildings, and water was nowhere to find. That's why the population there was 0. The Alabastan princess told everyone the true story.

"So you're saying that in three years, not a single drop of rain fell here in Erumalu, and before that, this place was a thriving green city?", Sanji repeated.

"Yes.", she sighed, saddened. "In the 1000 year history of Alabasta, the rain never stopped completely. It's all the fault of Crocodile and his damn Dance powder."

"Dance powder?", Chopper and Usopp asked at the same time.

"Dance powder, also known as Rain-Summoning powder is used to make artificial rain. It may sound great at first, but trust me, it's not. When Dance powder is used, it increases the size of clouds and the amount of water stored in it. The water in these clouds is stolen by other clouds, which are passing by. Later, these clouds don't rain in the place they were supposed to rain, thus the powder causes droughts in the area around the place Dance powder is used. My father was framed by Baroque works. The Billions, henchmen of the Officer Agents, smuggled Dance powder into my father's palace, pretending to follow orders of the king. Once this was uncovered, people all over my country started blaming father for their bad situation, while continuing to praise Sir Crocodile. He wants to take over the throne by weakening the royal forces after a civil war that will take many lives. Both Crocodile and Dance powder must be eliminated for peace in this country!"

Luffy put his hand on the girl's shoulder. "Don't worry Vivi, peace will come soon."

"Yeah", Sanji reassured her. "We beat Croco-guy's men's asses, and his will follow soon."

"You can count on your friends, Vivi.", Nami said to her, smiling.

Usopp and Zoro nodded, Ace and Chopper gave her a thumbs-up, Eyelashes smiled.

"Yosh!", the strawhat exclaimed. "Let's get to Yuba!"

…

On their way to Yuba, many funny and less funny things happened. Fights about food, fights about water, fights over Eyelashes being a pervert and only letting the females ride on him, fights over anything else. The participants were only permanent members of the Straw Hat Pirates, Ace and Vivi only looked at them, not bothering.

Monsters were killed, food was eaten. Zoro even found a Poneglyph. Unusual things can always happen.

When they finally arrived in Yuba, the travellers were shocked. The oasis was said to be full of water, but in the end it looked like Erumalu. Sand, sand everywhere. Just as they were looking at the town, a random sandstorm wreaked havoc. "Oh no!", the sensible 16-year-old gasped, crying out tears. "What has become of my country?"

Trying to comfort their nakama, the Straw Hats and Ace stepped down to the lowest point of the oasis. An old man was digging holes with a shovel. "Are you travelers?", he asked, noticing the presence of others. "You must be exhausted from your trek through the desert… Sorry, this town is a bit dried up.". The thin man turned around, showing his face and mustache. "But you're free to rest here if you want."

Vivi hid her face. People might hate her because of her father. She didn't want that.

The old man continued digging. "There are plenty of inns here.", he said. "They are the town's pride after all."

Sanji shrugged. "Let's go Vivi-chan.", he spoke. "Let's rest the night before we think about what's next."

"Wait a second!", the grey-haired called out. "Did you just say 'Vivi-chan'?"

She froze. 'Who is that man? And why isn't he antagonistic?'

"Vivi-chan, is that you?", the thin man asked, walking up to her. "You're alive, thank goodness! It's me! Don't you recognize me?". The royal among pirates gazed at him.

"I suppose I can't blame you.", he muttered in a sad manner. "I did lose some weight…"

The blue-haired's eyes opened wide up. "Toto-ojisan?"

"That's right.", the fragile old man confirmed, making the royal remember him in the past, when she was just a kid.

 _Flashback:_

"Well, Vivi-chan. This is goodbye for a while.", a rounder Toto said, his son standing next to him. They and some more people would go to build a new thriving city around the Yuba oasis. "Come visit sometime, once the city's taken shape."

"Okay, Toto-ojisan.", a younger Vivi promised, waving goodbye to him and his son around her age.

After one last goodbye, the soon-to-be people of Yuba left.

 _Flashback end_

"Vivi-shan, I still have faith in his Majesty.", the grey-haired man with dirty clothes continued, tears in his eyes. "He's not someone who would betray his kingdom. Don't you agree?"

With that, they hugged and cried together, after a sad reunion. All others went on ahead to find a motel.

…

Later, while everybody else were sleeping, Luffy and Ace approached Toto. "Excuse me.", the 20-year-old spoke. "Did someone called Blackbeard pass by?"

"Blackbeard?", the old man asked, frowning. "No, never heard of him."

"He's a big, fat man with black hair, a big nose and darker skin.", Roger's son went into detail. "He's also accompanied with 4 equally tall men and a horse."

The grey-haired still had no clue who this Blackbeard was. "No, I haven't seen such people."

Understanding, the commander of Whitebeard's 2nd Division nodded. "Thanks for the info, you've helped me a lot."

Wondering what his brother will do next, the 17-year-old asked him some things. "Ace, what are you going to do now?"

"I don't know for sure.", the Whitebeard Pirate admitted. "Maybe I'll return to Moby Dick, maybe I'll continue my hunt. There's one thing I know, Lu, I'll be leaving tomorrow. We can have one last chat if you want, in the morning of course. *yawwwn* I gotta sleep now, good night Lu!"

"Good night."

With the freckled gone, Luffy kneeled beside Toto. "How much water is under here?"

The old friend of King Cobra smiled. "The biggest resource aside from the Sandora River.". His face then turned sad. "If all these sandstorms didn't ruin everything, this would be the best city in Alabasta."

'Oh, yeah, the sandstorms. Who did that? Crocodile! I'm gonna kick his ass for sure!', the pirate set a goal for himself.

"Old man, I'm gonna help you digging."

"Really?", the mustached man gratefully beamed. "You're such a kind young man, thank you!"

"No need to thank me.". Luffy digged and digged. After only 10 minutes, the boy digged so deep he discovered water and had to Gomu Gomu no Rocket himself out. "You're welcome."

With that, the future Pirate King joined his nakama and Ace in the motel.

…

Next morning, they all woke up with a yawn. After breakfast, Toto gave everyone a small barrel of fresh, clean Yuba water to endure the heat of the Sandora Desert.

Before Ace left, he talked one more time with the Sraw Hats, especially his brother. The fire human pulled out two pieces of paper out of his pocket. "The left one", the 20-year-old explained, ripping off a piece of it, "is a Vivre Card. If you rip off a piece of it, that piece will show you the way to the other piece."

"Here", Whitebeard's 2nd Division Commander said, handing the strawhat the ripped off piece of the Vivre Card. "Come to me whenever you want, you'll know the way."

"The right one", he continued, "is the number of pops' Den Den Mushi. If you own a Den Den Mushi, you're free to call the Moby Dick whenever you desire."

"Wooooow!", Luffy beamed, looking at the papers his brother's given him. "Thanks Ace, you're the best."

The Whitebeard Pirate smiled again. "So, I think it's time to say goodbye. Honestly, I'm happy to have seen you again after three years.". The young adult turned around, putting his bag over his shoulder. "See you again Luffy!"

"BYYYE ACE!", the sometimes childish pirate called after him, waving his hands. "Say hi to Sabo from me!"

…

After the 17-year-old's brother was gone, Nami decided to ask her captain about this Sabo. "Luffy, who's Sabo?"

"*slurp* Sabo? Uh, he's my other brother.", the rubber man answered, drinking from his barrel.

"What?!", his nakama exclaimed, looking at him in disbelief. "You have another brother?"

Luffy shrugged. "Yeah, he's also my big brother and 2nd Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates alongside Ace. You should meet him one day and see him in action, he's only a little weaker than Ace."

Sanji lifted his law again and fixed his gaze. "Hold on a sec.", the cook spoke. "So both of your brothers are Yonko Commanders and insanely strong. What's next, your father is the most wanted criminal in the world?"

"Actually, he is.", the tallest member of the Straw Hat Pirates confirmed, rolling his eyes. To the others, it seemed like their captain has got the weirdest, probably most dangerous family.

"What's his bounty?", Vivi asked, wondering what kind of monster the black-haired's brother is.

"Hmmm", the teen in a captain's coat murmured. "Sabo's bounty is 450 Million Berry, over 5 times more than mine. Ace's bounty is 550 Million Berry, since he's a little stronger and doesn't hold back as much as Sabo. That's almost 7 times more than my bounty."

The princess then fainted anime-style. 'S-s-s-such high bounties!', she thought while crying anime-style, before passing out completely.

"Huh? What's wrong?", Dragon's son asked, frowning.

"You even ask?!", his crew yelled at him with sharp teeth.

Luffy shrugged once more. "If she passed out, then Perv-camel should carry her.", he suggested, triggering a tick mark on Eyelashes' forehead.

"Hey, I like that name.", Zoro told, grinning.

"Yosh!", the pirate captain exclaimed, slamming his fist against his open hand. "We've wasted enough time, let's go to Rainbase!"

…

Rainbase was a fine city. The only place with rain in Alabasta beside Alubarna. Vivi, who was awake again, told her nakama everything about it.

"So Crocodile's base is in a golden casino?", Usopp repeated, curious about this building.

"Yes", the bluenette informed him and everyone else. "The Rain Dinners is Crocodile's casino. You cannot possibly miss it. It's in the middle of a lake, a huge golden pyramid with a golden bananawani on top. There must be a secret base of operation inside, I believe it!"

The sniper nodded. "Ahh, now I understand. What do you think, should we go in there now or have a break first?"

"I vote for a break.", the ginger stated, holding up her hand. "Who's with me?"

To her surprise, everyone voted the same. "Good.", she spoke. "We're resting over there, someone needs to bring water."

"Usopp and I can do it.", the rubber man spoke up, volunteering to go shopping. Usopp sweatdropped.

"Uhh, okay, I'm going with you Luffy."

"Yosh! Let's get some water!"

With that, the two started walking towards a bar.

…

Captain Smoker and Tashigi were discussing something in the same bar two Straw Hats were running into. They had a serious discussion.

"Do you think Strawhat has connections to Crocodile? Because I think so."

"Smoker-san, what makes you think that?"

"I don't know Tashigi, but something's with this country, I know that by now."

"Oi bartender, give us 5 barrels of water!"

"Here they are, kid."

Both Marines turned their heads to their right. The voice demanding water sounded familiar. As their heads were fixed at the 17-year-olds drinking water, they glared at the pirates in disbelief. Feeling observed, the thirsty pirates turned their heads to their left. There was silence for a few seconds.

Then both criminals spat out their water onto the smoke man and the female swordsman. "It's Smokey, run!"

Luffy and Usopp ran away, realizing they pissed off Captain Smoker. "Tashigi! Gather, the Marines, we're going after them!"

Chaos ensued. The Straw Hats, including Vivi, were forced to shake off the Marines. To achieve that, they had to split up. One group consisted of Luffy, Zoro, Usopp and Nami, the other group consisted of Sanji and Chopper. Vivi roamed around alone.

"Dammit!", the White Hunter cursed under his breath. "They are damn good at running away!"

Eventually, the white-haired managed to follow the track of Luffy's group, who were trying to shake him off in the casino. That didn't stop the cigar-smoker from running after them.

When Luffy's group with Smoker at their tail reached a dead end after invading the Shichibukai's property, the floor beneath their feet opened and the 5 fell down in the black.

The next thing any of them could notice was the fact that they were trapped inside a big cage. "It's a trap!", the swordsman observed, snarling a little.

"A clever one in that.", the black-haired said, touching the bars of the cage. "Ouh, Kairoseki."

Pulling out his jitte, the Marine Captain rushed over to his enemy to render him useless, but the strawhat anticipated already. "You'll never arrest me Smokey, so give up now!"

"He's right.", a deep voice from the other side of the room echoed. The man sitting on his office chair turned around. "Nobody kills or arrests anybody, you're all going to die the same way.". As he turned around, the five trapped individuals were able to see and recognize his face.

"Crocodile!", the Marine from East Blue spat in hatred, while the cowardly duo was screaming in fear.

"I see you've come here on your own, Smoker- _kun._ ", the tall middle-aged man with a scar horizontally through his face wearing a fur coat spoke. "The government would never send you here, they believe in the Shichibukai, you know."

Sir Crocodile came closer to the cage and grinned like a devil. "I'll report the Headquarters that Strawhat here killed you after a long fight."

The pirate captain could only turn his eyes. "You know, Croccy, that would be pretty cowardly. And besides, I came here to kick your ass, not Smokey's."

He, Crocodile, looked at the 'brat' in disbelief, secretly infuriated a rookie like that brat dared to talk to him like that. Nonetheless, Mr. 0 laughed at him.

"Hahahahaha! You're funny, brat. You shouldn't talk that much considering you're my prisoner."

The bold teenager laughed back at the grown man. "Shishishishishi! Not for long, I will be freed. Believe me, everything I say will come true."

Annoyed, the person responsible for Alabasta's drought dismissed the boy's words. "You'll stop laughing once your special friend will come here. You'll better believe THIS.."

…

Somewhere outside, close to Rain Dinners, the Alabastan princess Vivi was struggling against a horde of Baroque agents. She had serious problems in keeping the enemies of Alabasta away from her. The blue-haired was almost captured, until a huge bird with gatling guns guns rescued her and flew her on top of a roof.

"P-pell?", the bluenette asked, recognizing the devil fruit user. Pell was one of the two head guards of the Alabasta Kingdom serving under Igaram. Both were happy to see each other. "Thank god you saved me!"

Pell's happiness quickly disappeared. "Vivi-sama, I have very bad news.", he reported, looking at her eyes. "King Cobra-sama has disappeared."

Vivi's happiness also flew away. "W-what?! Father has disappeared? Impossible!"

"Look.", the Zoan user said to his king's daughter, desperately looking at her. "King Cobra-sama's last orders before disappearing were, that I eliminate Crocodile at all costs. If Crocodile is removed, maybe Cobra-sama will show up again."

"I guess you're right…"

"Stay here!", the falcon ordered the 16-year-old. "I'll take care of those Baroque bastards."

He flew off the roof at high speed, spinning around. "Tobizume!". Mere seconds later, all attackers were rendered unable to fight. However, a new foe appeared.

"Well well well, if it isn't head guard Pell.", Miss All-Sunday spoke in a charming way. "Impressive devil fruit, too bad it's useless against me."

The falcon human ignored her, but kept an eye on the woman. "Vivi-sama, is that one of our enemies?"

Vivi just nodded out of fear. "This- this is the woman who almost killed Igaram!"

Pell's eyes almost popped out. "Igaram you say?!". He then turned to Crocodile's partner. "You almost killed Igaram, you're going to pay for that!"

As the human-falcon hybrid rushed at the top Baroque agent, she countered with 'Tres Fleur', holding his wings and sword, thus capping the Alabastan's abilities. The bird then dropped on the ground, heavily injured.

"Not Pell too!", Vivi screamed, absolutely mad at the raven-haired, who didn't seem to be bothered.

"You're coming with me, _princess._ "

"No! No! N- Mmmmmmmmmh!", the helpless girl let out before her mouth was covered.

A few minutes later, the woman wearing a white coat and a cowboy hat would arrive at her boss' office.

…

"VIVI?!", the youngest four in the prison exclaimed in disbelief as the very person they vowed to protect was captured by their biggest enemy so far.

"Welcome Vivi, Princess of Alabasta, or rather Miss Wednesday. You've done an admirable job slipping through the hands of our assassins, but it's over now."

Said princess was fuming. "Crocodile!", she yelled at him in burning anger, charging at the middle-aged man. "I've come to kill you, Mr. 0! If you hadn't set foot in my country, Alabasta would've been at peace!"

Sir Crocodile reached for his cigar. "Amusing."

"Kujakki String Slasher!", the furious Alabastan shouted, seemingly decapitating the Shichibukai, shocking almost everyone, even Smoker. This was the proof she doesn't mess around.

The leader of Baroque works transformed into sand, building himself up behind the bluenette. "Coming from this country, you should know I have the powers of the Suna Suna no mi. A fight against me would certainly not be good for you. Now take a seat!", he lectured her.

Grumbling, the blue-haired obeyed and sat on a chair the enemy of Alabasta had reserved for her. "It's time to start the party.", the cigar-smoking man muttered. "Am I right, Miss All-Sunday?"

Looking at her pocket watch, Miss All-Sunday nodded. "That's right, it's past 12. Operation Utopia has officially commenced."

Nami was confused. "Party? Operation Utopia?"

"What the hell are you talking about?", Usopp called, a bit tempered.

Crocodile started laughing intimidatingly. "Hahahahahahahaha! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!". When he finally settled down, the evil man explained things. "The blind love for Alabasta is making me sick! It makes me want to pull my hair out! Operation Utopia will consign this foolish love into oblivion. This pathetic Kingdom will die, Miss Wednesday, I'll make sure of it."

Vivi glared at the hateful man in disgust. The caring, loving girl was absolutely disgusted with his dark hatred.

"Operation Utopia… has begun!"

…

Outside of Rain Dinners, Sanji and Chopper were preparing the final details for the plan to get their nakama out of the casino. The smart cook had a brilliant idea.

"Chopper,", he spoke, "the only thing you need to do is to disguise yourself as me and watch my back, understand? When the enemies come, attack them. Hang around in front of the casino gate until Croccy comes out, then run away fast, understand? Make sure he follows you, lead him away from here!"

The reindeer was puzzled. "Why do I have to do that, Sanji? Can't we just storm inside?"

"Now now Chopper", the blond lectured him, "that's not strategic play. Just do as I say and we'll free Nami-san and the others in a flash."

"Okay."

With that, the devil fruit user disguised as the fighting cook prepared his text for the prank call. 'Hope this works. Sanji, I trust you.'

…

"I said tell me!", Vivi screamed at Crocodile, who laughed like a power-hungry psychopath. "What are you planning with Alabasta?"

"Hahahahahahahahahahahaha! Do you know what kind of people I abhor the most? Hypocrits who treasure the so-called 'happiness of the peope', like your father."

"Are you intending to kill my father?!", the 16-year-old snapped at the former active pirate in revulsion. She hated him more than ever.

Sir Crocodile laughed once more. "Hahahahaha! No, I don't intend to kill him, he's not even worth it. I want to make Cobra suffer something crueler than death."

Not only the princess held captive was disgusted by the sadistic Shichibukai. Everybody glanced at the very tall man with an angry look, with the exception of his partner of course.

The former Baroque agent's patience was wearing thin. "I'll ask you one more time! What the fuck is Operation Utopia? TELL ME!"

'Alabasta's hero' shrugged, dismissing her words. "Do you realize where you stand in this situation?"

"ANSWER THE QUESTION, DAMMIT!"

Stepping forward, the man wearing a fur coat beheld the heavily breathing and sweating princess. He sighed. "You're a valiant princess.", the scarred man said, hiding his annoyance. "But well, the operation has already begun, so I'll tell you about my plan. Yesterday, I summoned all high-ranking Officer Agents to my beautiful base. I gave orders to my agents to kidnap that fool Cobra and hide him somewhere safe. You know Mr. 2's impersonating abilities? Right now, he's burning down Nanohana with your father's face."

"He's…, he's what?!", the traumatized bluenette let out, visibly shaking. Now Crocodile's ruthlessness had surpassed her imagination.

"That's right.", the man with a golden hook spoke with an unscrupulous voice. "Mr. 2 is fueling hatred against the king. Now nobody will forgive him. I expect the Rebel Army to arrive in Alubarna in no more than 2 hours. Do you get that, your country is DOOMED!"

None of the evil mastermind's prisoners were not shocked. That was a dirty plan to them, even to Crocodile himself actually, but he had no problems with it since he was evil.

"That's- that's a dirty plan!", a certain ginger exclaimed from the cage.

"Y-you can't do that!"

Hearing the 'pathetic' voices of the 'pathetic' prisoners, the cruel Shichibukai grew bored of them being alive. He took the key to the cage and threw it at a bananawani, one of his many reptilian pets. As expected, the huge crocodile ate the key as if it was nothing.

"C-c-crap!", the desperate blue-haired stuttered, not knowing what to do.

"Do you like gambling?", the tall man asked, deviously smirking. "Either your people or these useless pirates. Choose well."

"Besides,", he continued, "the room is going to self-destruct in one hour. Water will fill it and it will sink on the bottom of the sea. Speaking of water…". The man wearing a fur coat opened a floodgate. Tons of water started filling the room. He then opened another gate and a bananawani crawled out of it, many other of his species lining up behind him for 'meal'.

Luffy wanted to waste time. The 17-year-old knew Sanji would rescue him and the others. "Vivi!", he shouted, acting immature. "Kick his ass and get us out of here!"

The girl he addressed turned around. "I can't!", she shouted back. "Bananawanis are so ferocious, they even prey on Sea Kings!"

Smirking, the boss of Baroque works looked back one more time at Princess Vivi. "Guess nothing will save you, hahaha! Anyways, we'll leave, time has come. All of you, have fun dying in the meantime! Hahahahaha!"

"Biribiribiribiribiri. Biribiribiribiribiri."

6 seconds later, when the humongous crocodile was about to eat the 16-year-old in whole, the ringing of a Den Den Mushi interrupted the drama going on in the room. Annoyed of another waste of time, the scarred man walked over to his table, picking up the earpiece. "*Clank* What is it?"

"Hello?", Sanji spoke through the snail phone, them not knowing his identity. "Hello? Can you hear me?"

"Yes, I can hear you."

"It's the Restaurant Baratie, how can I help you?"

This caught Sir Crocodile's attention after his right ear twitched. "Baratie you say?"

Outside, the leg fighter tried to hold back laughter. "You know, that's not the first time we speak. It sounds like you remember. I'm flattered."

Now Crocodile remembered his talk with 'Mr. 3' on Little Garden and how he punished the same man after he came back yesterday, looking for another chance. The asian-looking man insisted he never talked with him on a Den Den Mushi. It was pretty clear to him: That must be another Straw Hat!

"Punk, who the hell are you?!"

"I'm, uhh", the Vinsmoke thought about his false name, "Mr. Prince."

"Mr. Prince, huh? I see… Now, where are you?"

"Ha!", the actual royal laughed. "As if I would tell you. You'd come to kill me if I did. I'm not dumb enough to carelessly spill information. Unlike you, Mr. 0."

" ***Bang!*** ", a pistol shot sounded through the Den Den Mushi. An unnamed Baroque agent reported through it. "Pesky bastard…! Uhh, hello? We got him. What should we do with this weirdo?"

The Shichibukai's eyes were shadowed. "Where are you? Report your location!"

"We're in Rainbase.", the man answered. "In front of the Rain Dinners Casino's gate."

Zoro exploded from getting upset. "That useless idiot got caught!", the swordsman exclaimed, maximum upset. "He'd better be alive!"

Meanwhile, Long-nose was rapidly spinning around like a top, holding his head with his hands. The 17-year-old really feared for his life. "IAI IAI IAI IAI IAI IAI IAI IAI IAI!"

"Our last hope… gone!", the orange-haired brought over her lips, tears flowing from her eyes.

Glancing over, the 81 Million Berry man chuckled lightly at the sights of hopeless souls. He then turned to the raven-haired. "Let's go outside check on Mr. Prince, I'm sure he's gonna be happy to see his friends."

Miss All-Sunday warned him. "We've only revealed ourselves to the highest agents, the lower ones still don't know you."

Crocodile shrugged. "I'm going out as the owner of the casino checking outside, what's wrong with that?"

His blue-eyed partner nodded. "Very well then, let's head outside."

…

When he was outside, Sir Crocodile didn't believe his eyes. All of his henchmen, the Millions by rank, were wiped out, almost dead on the floor. "What the hell happened here?"

'Alabasta's hero' walked over to one random man and poked him hard with his shoe, making him forcefully turn around. "Oi! What happened?"

The brown-haired man coughed out blood. "This guy calling himself Mr. Prince did this to us."

Narrowing his eyes, the man with a golden hook gave him a dead glare. "Where the hell did this guy go to?"

"He went south towards the city just now…", the shorter-than-average man said, before passing out.

"Just now?". Just as the middle-aged's eyes narrowed, they opened up again, only wider than before. He observed a tall man running away, much to his anger. The extremely dark purple-haired man began transforming into sand to pursue 'Mr. Prince' and end his life.

"Pathetic fool, just who do you think you're trying to run grom?"

"Why don't you let him go?", his trusted partner asked, attempting to tame the very tall man's murderous spirit.

"Don't be silly!", he growled, dismissing her idea. "I've killed everyone who has had the balls to try to humiliate me!"

With that, the Shichibukai chased after the disguised doctor.

Suddenly, the bridge to the golden pyramid collapsed. The Orahan noticed this, slightly looking back. She knew that was Mr. Prince's move.

Speaking of Mr. Prince, the young gentleman under this fake name walked through the casino. He was going to rescue his nakama, and came closer to them with every step.

…

At the same time, Vivi Nefeltari, formerly known as Miss Wednesday, tried to defend herself against a bananawani. The bluenette wanted to escape via the stairs, but there weren't any – anymore. The bananawani hunting her wasn't dumb, he simply bit off the marmor stairs with his monstrous jaw.

Trapped in a corner and in the verge of death, Carue's best friend started screaming things like "Sorry, I couldn't save you.", or "Sorry I'm so weak.". Before being bitten, a blond leg fighter steps in.

"Anti-Manner Kick Course!"

With a 180 degree kick from below the giant crocodile's stomach, Sanji sent the beast flying. "You shitty bananas, nobody attacks a lady on my watch!"

All Straw Hats looked at the cook in relief. "Sanji!"

But the perverted cook only had eyes for the navigator and started dancing again. "Nami-swaaan, do you love meeeeee?"

Nami grunted in annoyance. "Yes, I love you, now get us out of here!"

"Mellorine~, Mellorine~"

"His stupidity has no limits!", the green-haired commented.

Seconds later, another gate opened and 15 bananawanis crawled inside, forcing the Vinsmoke to become serious again. "Which one of them should I stomp first?"

"The third one.", Smoker interjected. "He has the same growl as the one who ate the key."

Sanji shrugged. "I don't know what kinds of ears you have, but I'll gladly take my chance. Anti-Manner Kick Course!"

Said bananawani was kicked so hard it flipped a couple of times, but what he threw up was not only a key. An odd sphere looking like a golf ball followed the metal key.

"Doru Doru Ball!", a voice from inside the ball shouted. "Break!"

The wax ball broke up, revealing a dehydrated person inside, Mr. 3. Every person in this room was greatly surprised to see him. "WHAAAAAT?!"

"W-water, water all around me. Truly a miracle!"

Greedily, the fired Baroque agent drank enormous amounts of water in such a short time, but who wouldn't in a state like this.

"Mr. 3,", Vivi loudly exclaimed, "Why were you inside the crocodile's stomach?!"

Three didn't answer her question. "Woohoo!", he cheerfully yelled. "I have revived! I thought I had reached the end! Crocodile, if you want be rid of me, you have to do better. Right when I was swallowed by this monster, I used all of my remaining strength to create a Doru Doru Ball! Huh?"

That last part of his speech was explained by the key he had found. "What have we here?"

"THE KEY, GIVE IT HERE!", three of the five people inside the cage roared, making Galdino turn around and freak out after seeing the very ones who had defeated him. "AAAAAAAH! YOU AGAIN!"

One moment to another, the future prisoner of Impel Down viewed his point in this situation and started adding things up. 'A steadily flooding room, a steel cage, and… a key.'. "I have grasped the situation!"

"So you are Mr. 3.", Sanji spoke up, giving the asian-looking man a little heart attack. "AAAAAAH!"

His shock gone, the future member of Buggy's Delivery calmed down a bit. "You've frightened me there."

"Hand over the key, nice and steady!", the blond calmly ordered.

'I know what I have to do!', the candle human thought with a malicious grin. "How about with a loooooong throw?!"

Galdino threw the key into a circle with three monster crododiles standing outside of it, severely annoying the cook. "I don't know who you are, but you appear to be one of them. If you want the key, go look for it!". Three's smirk became even more devilish. "But be warned, you might get yourself in trouble!"

"Bastard!". The fighting cook jumped at him, beating the lanky man to pulp. He forced the fired Baroque agent to create a new key out of his wax. With the new key created, all of Crocodile's prisoners were freed.

But that was not all. To Mr. 3's surprise, the former cook of Baratie taped a large piece of paper with a message written on it onto the ex-Baroque agent's chest, then kicking him into the wall. Miss Goldenweek's partner was no longer a conscious man.

"We must head to Alubarna now.", the ginger said in a leader-ish tone.

"But there are so many bananawani-", Vivi began, but was cut off by a shout.

"IS THAT ALL?"

5 seconds. That was the time Luffy and Zoro needed to take out the remaining bananawani. The princess felt like crying.

"AND I HAD SO MUCH TROUBLE AGAINST EVEN ONE!", she cried, disappointed with her own strength.

"Don't cry,", Usopp tried to console her, "I couldn't have done it either."

Suddenly, the walls broke and water started flowing in in even bigger masses. "Zoro, Sanji!", the captain exclaimed with a serious voice. "Save everyone with devil fruit powers!"

"Even Smoke-guy?"

"Yes, even Smokey. He might be a Marine, but we can't let him die like that!"

"If you say so…"

…

Immediately after the Straw Hats and Captain Smoker escaped the room, a fuming Sir Crocodile stormed inside his former office. He found an empty cage, his beaten up pets, and his former subordinate with a note, reading "See ya later, Shitty Croc. –Mr. Prince"

This was the final straw. "DAMMIT!", he furiously roared. "NEXT TIME, I'LL KILL THEM ALL WITH MY BARE HANDS! FUCK THEM! AND FUCK THIS COUNTRY!"

…

Spectators were surprised to see a bunch of young people and a well-known Marine Captain coming out of the lake. The escapees were all wet and tired. Some because of swimming, some because of swimming and carrying, and some because of their weaknesses.

"Vivi-chan", Sanji spoke, spitting out water. "Can we still make it to Alubarna?"

"I don't know.", the 16-year-old responded, pressing out water from her dress.

Gaining consciousness, the White Hunter decided to question the man who ordered his right hand to save him. "Strawhat!", he barked. "Why did you save me?"

Both Captains looked at each other in silence for a long time. In the far, Marines were running towards them. "Because", the black-haired explained, "I don't hate you. You are not a bad Marine, heck, one of the only ones I like. I'm not that kind of person who just leaves someone to die."

The law enforcer with a heart sighed. "Go.", he whispered, loud enough for the others to hear. "I'll let you escape for once, but next time, we're enemies."

Garp's grandson showed his enemy his trademark smile. "Alright, we gotta go. See you sometime, Smokey, although you'll never arrest me. But train, train so that you at least have a chance."

After this goodbye, the 80 Million Berry man left Rainbase with his crew, running. Now they had to go through the desert again.

'Crocodile, I won't let you hurt Vivi and her people, so get ready for a thrashing!'

* * *

 **That was it for today. To be honest, I don't really like this chapter. It feels too much for one, but then again, those chapters would be shorter. Constructive criticism allowed. Rate and review if you like.**


	15. C15: Straw Hat Pirates vs Baroque Works

**Never again!**

 **Sorry for slower updates, but exams and learning are keeping me busy. Regardless, I do my best to continue my story. You can expect faster updates fot the next chapters. Anyways, this is going to be a long and awesome action-filled chapter. Enjoy reading!**

 **Answer to AnniBananni: I only call him like that, because I don't want to adress him with only one or two terms. Hope you understand**

 **Answer to Guest: Don't worry, the only time I'll stop writing this is when it's finished.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**

* * *

 **Chapter 15: Straw Hat Pirates vs Baroque Works**

Not far from Rainbase and somewhat close to the great river, the Straw Hats met Scissors, a giant pinkish-red desert crab with one big right claw and a tiny left claw, who was Eyelashes' friend. According to the camel, he was also a pervert, and the leer on the crab's face pretty much confirmed it.

Not five minutes later, a mysterious golden hook attached to a chain of sand attempted to abduct Vivi. Luffy didn't think for very long. 'Crocodile!'. The boy switched places with the princess, making sure she would head home safely. "Oi, guys!", he exclaimed, grinning. "Make sure to get Vivi home!"

Zoro looked at the bearer of the D for a few seconds, along with his other nakama. 'That idiot, why does he always have to do things alone?'. But Captain's orders were Captain's orders, the mosshead felt obliged to execute the 17-year-old's orders. He was loyal after all.

"Chopper!", the swordsman sternly ordered. "To Alubarna, right now!"

The reindeer nodded. "Got it!". He pulled scissor's reins. "LET'S GO!"

One girl on the huge invertebrate was against the idea of both the pirate captain and his first mate. "Luffy-san, n-"

"Are you doubting him?!"

Same bluenette lowered her head. "No…"

30 seconds later, only the swirled up sand was visible to Luffy. 'That was good, I managed to get them time. Let's hope they can defeat Baroque works until the armies clash.'

Standing up, the teen knocked off sand from his captain's coat. "Damn Croccy, you know how to upset the laundry. Poor women having to remove sand grain by grain."

Crocodile bit off his cigar in irritation. How dare this brat mock him, the great Shichibukai Sir Crocodile. His very partner giggled at the kid's petty insult, much to the middle-aged man's annoyance.

"Did you find that funny? Perhabs I should kill you too, Nico Robin.". He kept his calm demeanor.

The raven-haired stopped laughing, yet stayed calm. "If that's how you feel, do as you wish.", she shrugged him off, walking away. "And what happened to your promise to not call me by that name?"

Baroque works' leader turned his head towards her. "Where are you going?"

"To Alubarna. I'm going to contact the agents, that's what you'd want from me, or not?"

"Insufferable woman.", the scarred man quietly cursed, barely hearable. He pulled out an hourglass out of his fur coat and tossed it at his opponent's feet.

"Listen Strawhat, I'll give you three minutes. After that, I won't have time to play with you anymore."

"Huh!", the strawhat let out, crackling his fists. "That'll be more than enough."

"I take that as a challenge!", the very tall man grunted, taking his fighting stance. "Show me your worst!"

With that, the fight began.

Luffy acted quick, coating his arms in haki. "Armament! Gomu Gomu no Pistol!"

His arm hit Crocodile's head, who dodged a bit, but not enough. "Dammit!", the Shichibukai cursed. "What's a kid like you doing with haki? I've been in the New World and never used it."

This caught Dragon's son's attention. "Hold on! You've been to the New World and never used haki?". He then burst out to laughter. "You must be really stupid then!"

The Royal Shichibukai Sir Crocodile, who couldn't accept getting taunted by a mere teenager was filled by rage! "Who do you think you are?! Don't you see I'm miles better than you?"

Not getting an answer and continued to be ignored, the cruel Logia resorted to direct violence. "If that's it, then I have to kill you right here! Desert Spada!"

A huge gap opened up below the future Pirate King's feet after the man with a golden hook shot a sharp blade of sand into the ground, splitting it in two. The younger one of them still dodged effortlessly. "Is that everything you've got, Croc?"

Infuriated, the man in a fur coat let out another grunt. "If you think you can beat me, you're dead wrong. We're in the desert, where I'm invincible!"

Chuckling was everything the rubber man could do. "Yeah yeah, you seem pretty vincible to me, Croccy."

"Desert Girasole!"

Using this move, the scarred man thought he could get rid of the kid by creating a pit of quicksand pulling the latter inside, burying alive. Little did he know his enemy could easily get out of there with Rokushiki. "Geppo!"

Crocodile's eyes almost popped out. The boy he wanted to kill made it out of a safe trap like it was nothing. "Ouuuh, how sad. Your three minutes will be over soon and you haven't even made a dent on me. You're sure unlucky."

"Barján!"

The sand man's last attemp. He swung his arm forward, shooting a crescent-shaped trail of sand at his future Impel Down co-escapee. However, the red-dressed young pirate didn't do anything to stop the sand. He let the gold-ish grains hit him and dry his right half up on purpose, just to look worse than Obito Uchiha's Zetsu half.

With a proud face, the casino owner pointed at the half-dry teen. "Ha!", he sneered. "Do you see now that I'm leagues ahead of you?"

Lifting his head slowly up, the 17-year-old gave the adult a glare scary enough to frighten half of the world. "You're not better than me because I let you hit me on purpose."

"Ehh?". The scarred man was confused. Why did the kid let him hit him?

"You see, I let you hit me to show you the cure of this country's cancer.", the 80 Million man spoke, reaching for his barrel of water. "This water here is the future of Alabasta. Toto-ojisan is digging holes for it day for day. If you fail to see this country's prosperity, then there's no hope for your brain."

"Toto-ojisan?", the very tall man asked. "That old fart who digs holes everyday? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

After he finished talking, the middle-aged man started ranting about Alabasta and its citizens again. "This country is making me vomit! All this pacifism, friendliness, peace, trust to the king, … ARRRGH! Someone needs to correct this stinkhole's political way, someone needs to correct these peasants' minds. Once I'm in charge, good-for-nothings like that stubborn old fool will be removed. Tell me Strawhat, why do you think are Erumalu and Yuba full of sand?"

Taking his final sip, the strawhat inflated his mummified arm back to normal again. "Do you realize what nonsense you're talking about? What's wrong with you, do you want a military dictatorship or what?!"

"Actually, that's exactly what I want, a military dictatorship! I will build an army that will t-"

"I see.". Garp's grandson stepped forward a bit. "Guess I wasn't wrong, there is actually no hope for your brain. Sick people like you need a treatment exactly for the likes of you."

The next thing Alabasta's biggest liar felt was a barrage of fast punches coming from a black fist. "YOU WILL NOT DESTROY VIVI'S OR THIS COUNTRY'S HAPPINESS, NOT ON MY WATCH! GOMU GOMU NO GATLING!"

Sir Crocodile's heart was pounding and his body was aching. But none of them were as painful to him as his pride getting stomped.

At the same time, Luffy was preparing his final attack. "Gomu Gomu no Bazooka!". He did his best not to hurt the Shichibukai too bad, if he went all out, he would have literally impaled Mr. 0, killing him in the process. The same man cought up blood and fainted after unbearable pain kicked in.

"Huh!", the boy muttered, watching his opponent's body lying in the sand. "By my standards, he got away lightly to be honest."

Suddenly, a voice rang in his ears. "Hey!", a hurt voice exclaimed from behind. "Are you one of those pirates helping Princess Vivi-sama?"

He turned around, and behind him was a pale man with purple stripes going down his face, better known as Pell. "Ahh", the rubber man let out in relief as he had found a way to go to Alubarna quickly. "You're the falcon man, aren't you?"

Pell sweatdropped. "Yeah, that's me.", he said, noticing Crocodile's defeated body. "Wait, you defeated Crocodile?"

The extremely strong black-haired slightly turned red and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, it wasn't much you know.."

Alabasta's second head guard began focusing again. "You defeated him, that's good, but we need you in Alubarna.", he told the pirate captain, turning to his falcon form. "Hop on, it won't take that long."

"I'm on it."

That said, the Zoan user started flapping with his wings, setting off.

Meanwhile, a raven-haired woman wearing a white coat watched from the far, somewhere she could not be seen. The 28-year-old had observed the fight between her boss and that rookie. She could certainly say she was impressed by his ridiculous strength.

'My my, it's been a long time since I've seen such a good-hearted man. Maybe, just maybe, he will become Pirate King like he claims.'

Miss All-Sunday knew she had a job to do in Alubarna, so she made clear to her F-wani, a fast version of the bananawani, he had to get going.

"To Alubarna!"

…

The other Straw Hats had long crossed the river with the help of Kung-fu dugongs loyal to Luffy. On the other side of the river, Carue and his friends, the Super Spot-Billed Duck Squad, waited for Vivi and her friends to transport them to the capital, Alubarna.

As of now, they were very close to the city. The native Alabastan explained them their plan to get inside. "Listen to me. There are three gates on the west side of Alubarna, we need to split up to distract the Baroque agents. You will distract them and I'll secretly enter from another gate. Here's the clue, we have to disguise ourselves with cloaks, understand?"

"Understand."

Next thing the Mr. 4 pair, the Mr. 1 pair and Mr. 2 saw, was a squad of 6 cloaked people riding overgrown desert ducks. "Watch out,", Mr. 1 spoke, "one of them is definitely Princess Vivi."

"I figured that much, but who follows whom?", Miss Merry Christmas asked.

"We'll see.", Miss Doublefinger responded, taking a drag of her water pipe. "These nuisances are a threat to our mission."

With the six splitting up into four groups, the Baroque agents also split up in hope to catch the ones destined to thwart their mission. None of them knew their main target, Nefeltari Vivi, was entering the city through the south gate.

…

With Usopp and Chopper:

Usopp and Chopper were speeding at the western gate, their path blocked by Mr. 4, a man looking like a fat Sanji, and Miss Merry Christmas, a fat woman somewhat resembling a mole.

"Oi Chopper, let's have some fun!", the sniper called, loading his slingshot. "Kayaku Boshi!"

His explosive pellet of gunpowder was fired at Mr. 4, but his pet Lassoo, a pistol that 'ate' the Inu Inu no mi, Model: Dachsund, shot an exploding baseball at the pellet, protecting his owner. After the smoke of the explosion cleared, the sharpshooter knew whose projectiles were more powerful.

Unexpectedly, Miss Merry Christmas began digging holes, using her devil fruit, the Mogu Mogu no mi. She disappeared underground to strike later on. Chopper knew it was a question of time until the Baroque agent attacked.

A hole appeared and Lassoo got inside, shooting exploding baseballs out of there. Both Usopp and Chopper dodged them easily at first, but the fat man Mr. 4 redirected the bombs at the duo with his 4 ton bat. Now the balls still didn't hit them, but they had a way harder time dodging them. The reindeer-human hybrid figured out those bombs weren't ordinary bombs, but time bombs, and 'fat Sanji' was able to calculate the time of explosion, contrary to his slow mind.

After looking around, the two noticed the mole Zoan had dug dozens of holes into the ground while they were fighting Mr. 4 and his dog. Now they had it even worse dodging Lassoo's baseball bombs and Mr. 4's redirections.

The darker-skinned boy didn't know if it was helpful, but he decided to overwhelm his foes with his own tricks. "Usopp Pound!". With an exaggerated weight of 5 tons, the physically weak teen struck the fat man with a giant hammer. The latter collapsed upon impact, greatly shocking his partner.

"A 5 ton hammer?! Where does that kid keep that kind of power?!", the mole hybrid exclaimed, looking at the marksman's thin arms. "Who are you?"

"I,", Usopp lied in an imposing stance, "traveler of the world's oceans, crusher of notorious foes as I go, and sinker of countless ships. Out of fear, people call me the 'Dynast of Destruction.'. Hehehe, remember my name well. Captain Usopp!"

Chopper was clapping his hands and cheering. The doctor was smart and dumb at the same time, believing his nakama's lies. "Awesome! Awesome! Awesome! That was awesome Usopp!"

"Hn", Yasopp's son smirked. "Thank you, thank you, I'll sign your authographs later."

Miss Merry Christmas was sweating, frightened of Long-nose's 'power'. The 17-year-old, who definitely wasn't as dumb as most people would guess, decided to grasp the situation and finish her too.

"You too!", he shouted, running at the scared Baroque agent. "Take this five ton hammer! Usopp Pound!"

The overweight woman screamed at first, but escaped via her holes. "Tch, she got away!", the lanky sniper muttered.

Panting, the Zoan appeared in another hole after saving herself. That didn't go unnoticed. "There you are!"

With that, a human-sized whack-the-mole game began. "Pound! Pound! Pound! Pound! Pound! Pound! Pound! Pound! Rubber Band! Pound! Pound! Pound! …"

The battle between them was long and exhausting. Usopp groaned in disappointment as he wasn't able to hit her with his hammer, only with his rubber band.

"Why don't you give up?", the mole hybrid questioned the liar, still panting. "You can't hit me."

He knew that. Usopp knew he couldn't hit her with his hammer, so he resorted to lies again. "Let me inform you of something, you must have heard that a good number of Baroque works staff have been eliminated by us, right? The truth is, that was all my doing!"

"W-what?!", Mr. 4's partner yelled in disbelief.

"And what's more…", the black-haired continued, "I have 8000 men under me!"

Suddenly, the fat man everyone thought he was done for gained consciousness and slowly got back on his feet. "Ow", he slowly let out, rubbing his head.

Mr. 4's 'incredible stamina' greatly impressed Chopper. "Whoa! He took a five ton hammer! He's a monster!"

Miss Merry Christmas was slowly getting aware that something's wrong. "He doesn't have the slightest bump, does he? He took a direct blow to the head by a five ton hammer, and he's uninjured?"

Usopp's face was blue from fear. He knew he couldn't fool his enemies anymore.

Lassoo shot one of his baseballs at the sniper's hammer, destroying it. It was game-over for the lanky kid's lies.

When the smoke cleared, the truth about the 5 ton hammer was revealed. It was only two frying pans and papier-mâché.

"Papier-mâché?!", the naive reindeer exclaimed. "Hey, that was fake?!"

"Of course it was! Do you think I can carry five tons?!", the sharpshooter shouted at him. "I have to give up after 5 kg! This is a light, folding model I made out of frying pans and a stick!

Meanwhile, a certain female Baroque agent was glowing red out of anger. "Why you… You tricked me, didn't you? No more mercy! Mogura Tonpo: Mogugyo!"

She disappeared underground, waiting for the right moment to claim revenge. Aware of that, the marksman decided to warn his brown-furred nakama. "Watch out for the holes!"

A voice laughed from under the sand. "Hihihi! Watch out for the holes, you say? That won't do any good. Under the ground is like a swimming pool to me! Kiahahahahaha!"

"A pool? You mean…"

The digging devil fruit user didn't let the 17-year-old finish his sentence as merciless as she was after the turn of events. "Mogura…"

"Usopp!", the doctor tried to warn him, but was too late.

"Banana!"

Mr. 4's partner jumped out of the sand and sent the boy flying after a strike to his face. Blood came out of the spot she hit him.

"Mr. 4! Lassoo!", the fat woman ordered, turning towards them. "You guys take care of the reindeer man! Show off your 400-swing punk knocks!"

After the order was given, the pet and his owner executed the attack. Only seconds later, Chopper found himself surrounded by 400 explosive baseballs.

He thought that would be the end for him, but another turn of events happened. The hybrid quickly ate a rumble ball and transformed. "Brain Point! Scope!"

Using this attack, he somehow managed to blow up Lassoo's bombs before they hit him. Despite success, the massive explosion managed to hurt him badly. Yet Hiluluk's adoptive son was durable enough to stand on his legs. Combining the strength of reindeer and willpower of humans, the short doctor made it out of a certain death for normal people.

"Chopper…", the sniper sighed in relief, still exhausted. He was glad his friend was alive.

"Is this the time for you to be concerned about someone else?", a familiar voice rang in his ears. The long-nosed boy looked around, only to realize she was underground. "I told you, no more mercy! I'll torment you as much as I like, and turn you into a desert dried fish! Mogura Banana!"

Usopp started running away. "Mogura Banana! Banana! Banana! Banana! …", the psycho-woman kept yelling while continiously attempting to hit the cowardly teen again.

'There are ruins of a wall over there!', the black-haired thought, running at high speed. 'If I keep dashing at that speed towards it, she'll hit the part of the wall buried under the sand _with a major crash!_ ". He thought of the last part in a taunting way.

"Banana! Banana!"

'Come on, come on, come on!'

The fast runner jumped over the wall. "Now bash your head open!"

While the Baroque agent did crash her head against the wall, it also had a side effect for the long-nosed. The ruins in front of him collapsed onto the liar, who was extremely lucky the main pillar didn't crush his head.

At the same time, Miss Merry Christmas struck her head out of the ground, mourning about her bump and pain.

Suddenly, Chopper had an idea. 'These underground tunnels must be connected, right? That's it!'. He grabbed the pistol-dog and made him shoot a load of baseball bombs into a single hole. These balls would later spread and blow up the Zoan user's underground network. "Run Usopp, stay away from the holes!"

Yasopp's son nodded. "Right away, just wait a second. Kaen Boshi!"

After shooting flammable pellets inside a hole, the 17-year-old followed the reindeer, away from the place where a big explosion would take place. That explosion happened 10 seconds later. Fire shot through all of the holes. Mr. 4 and his partner were, literally, roasted and unable to continue fighting.

"Let's help Vivi if we find her!", the reindeer-human hybrid suggested, running up the stairs of the west gate.

"I'm with you, wonder what Sanji's doing."

…

With Sanji:

"Un, deux, trois! Un, deux, trois!"

An okama in a pink coat attacked Sanji with kicks, who dodged them. The cook had almost made it all the way up the southwest gate, but then the trans-guy came and ruined his mood.

The blond hated okamas, since he was a lady-lover and male crossdressers were gross to him. In fact, his worst nightmare is him stuck on an island full of hairy, ugly okamas.

"Un, deux,…"

"SHUT UP AND GET OUT OF MY WAY!"

Bon Kurei sneered at him. "If you have to get by, you'll have to defeat me first."

"Fine by me.", the leg fighter said, taking his battle stance. "But tell me, who even are you?"

"Me?", Bentham asked, flattered. "So nice of you to ask who I am, sweety, my name is Bentham. You might know me as Mr. 2 Bon Kurei. Who might you be, cutie-chan?"

"DON'T call me cutie-chan!", the fighting cook hissed at his natural enemy. "My name is Sanji and I'm the cook of the Straw Hat Pirates."

The Imitating Human was confused. "You are one of the Straw Hats?! Never seen you before. Although, there is that one guy who calls himself Mr. Prince…"

"That's me."

Mr. 2 looked at the ex-prince in a pensive way. "Ahhh, I see. You know, for infuriating Boss-chan and crossing his plans, I'd have to take care of you. But I'm a civilized man, uhh, whatever, so maybe I can forgive you if you follow the okama way."

"It's out of question!". Sanji as erotic and romantic as he is, he would refuse becoming an okama any day. For him, there's nothing worse. "You're going to get outta my way and fuck off, understand? This isn't a request, it's an order."

"And what if I refuse?"

Lighting up his cigarette, the former royal gave his opponent a threatening glare. "Then I'll make you! Basse Côte!"

Bon Kurei received two kicks, one in the front and one in the back. It hurt, and he couldn't dodge it. "Ow!", he let out in pain! "Now you've made me angry! Dozo Okamai Knuckle!"

"Bastard!", the well-dressed man cursed after getting punched in the face. The okama left a bruise mark. "Mouton Shot!"

Bentham countered with 'Hakucho Arabesque'. Both of them spun in the air and landed two powerful kicks on each other's legs. They were almost even.

The smoker made his next move. "Tendron!", he shouted, landing a straight kick at the crossdresser's collar bone, making him scream up in pain.

Mr. 2 got back on his feet and swore vengeance. "Urabure Swan Butokai!"

Sanji handled the kicks and punches like a man, evading some of them. He did not choose to waste time. "Flanchet!"

The Baroque agent was violently kicked into the stomach, then sent flying into a building. He cought up blood as he stood up. "What's with the violence?", he asked, annoyed of the cook. He then had an idea. "You might hit me, but can you hit your friends?". The Mane Mane user changed to Nami.

Hearts in his eyes, the ero-cook began to rave and dance. "Mellorine~ Mellorine~!"

Impel Down's future prisoner grinned as he found out his opponent's weakness. "Ahhh, cutie-chan, so you like me, huh?", the queer asked as the blond's favourite ginger. "Keri Pointe!"

Vinsmoke Sanji could definitely say it hurt, getting kicked in the face with two feet. Subsequently, he was thrown out of dreamland and had a conscious mind again, not filled with any pervert thoughts. 'Damn, he figured out my weakness! If I close my eyes, he can't get me again.'

His eyes closed, the leg fighter mocked the devil fruit user. "I closed my eyes, you can't fool me again!"

Bon Kurei sneered at him. "Wanna bet? Ohh, cutie-chan, go out with me!", the Imitating Human spoke with the navigator's voice.

"Nami-swaaaaan!"

"Grand Fouetté: Ano Natsu no Hi no Memoir!"

A beautiful woman's voice still affected the pervert's thinking, so he had no chance to dodge the okama's powerful kick.

"OARGH!", the fighting cook spat, coughing out blood. At this point he had realized that he needed to overcome his weakness. 'Okay, so besides looks, voices also affect me. If I stuff my ears, then maybe…'

The blond pulled out every remaining cigarette of him out of his pocket and stuffed his ears with them. 'I won't be smoking those later!'

He remembered his captain talking about Observation haki and how it would be useful in the Grand Line. 'So Captain's right again, haki is useful. If Marimo has it, then I should have it too! I mean, he's nowhere near as smart as I am.'

As the intelligent cook concentrated, he could perceive an aura in front of him. He quickly opened his eyes and saw Bentham's real face, deciding to close his eyes again before the queer turns into Nami. 'Just like Marimo, I can only feel their presence with closed eyes. Anyways shitty okama, you're toast now!'

Meanwhile, the crossdresser impatiently glanced at the haki user. "I don't know what you're doing but it's starting to irritate me. I should put an end to this. Prima!"

Because Sanji saw this coming, he was able to dodge, but flinched anyway. He opened his eyes to check on the powerful attack and was shocked to see a hole in the wall behind him, without any cracks.

"Hahahahaha!", Mr. 2 laughed. "My Prima-kick is as strong as a pumpgun. And there's more where that came from. Bombardier!"

Without hesitating, Zeff's adoptive son closed his eyes and fend off his enemy's kicks with 'Quasi' and 'Queue'. "There can only be one leg fighter!"

"Hahahahaha! You're right!", the hairy-legged man called, preparing for the next attack. "Ano Fuyu no Sora no Memoir!"

The leg fighter perfectly dodged one of the make-up-wearer's most dangerous attacks. "Cuisseau! Jarret!"

A fierce kick to the shin followed an even more fierce kick to the thigh. Bon Kurei was squealing in pain and started regretting to fight the Vinsmoke.

Baratie's former sous chef thought his job was done and sped upstairs. To his surprise, the okama wasn't finished off yet.

"One more time!"

Bentham had a really serious face. Judging by his expression, he was serious to the core. Sanji decided that his earplugs weren't needed. "One more time! Show me what you've got!"

"Bombardier Arabesque!"

"Veau Shot!"

Two intense kicks faced off to see whose owner of the kicking feet was stronger. In the end, the victor was the blond chef and ex-royal Sanji.

As his opponent Mr. 2 flew against a wall and was about to pass out, the lady lover smiled at him. "You fought well, I respect you."

The injured 'man' smiled back. "I respect your win and you too, friend."

Both fighters shook their hands before the swan-man passed out. For both of them it had been a fight worth rembembering. Neither one of them failed to feel respect for the other.

'Great, time to help Vivi-chan. I hope Nami-san is doing alright.'

…

With Zoro and Nami:

The ginger and the mosshead were confronted by the Mr. 1 pair. Aside from Crocodile and his partner, those two were the most dangerous. Luckily for Nami, she was accompanied by the second strongest Straw Hat. However, the weakest Straw Hat didn't plan to fight at all.

"Go Go Zoro! What are you waiting for? Hurry up and pound them!", the navigator cheered him up from behind.

Zoro gave her an annoyed smirk, meaning he wasn't pleased with her cowardice. "Sure, sure, why don't you go hide somewhere?", the swordsman sarcastically reassured his nakama.

Mr. 1 and Miss Doublefinger started walking towards him. Some time later, the green-haired noticed they were walking past him. "Oi! What do you think you're doing?!"

Daz Bones, how Mr. 1 was really named, gave him an explanation while looking forward. "First rule of the guide to killing: Eliminate the weaker targets first."

"Let us show you how a pro works.", Miss Doublefinger, or Paula, continued.

Fear ran through Nami's body. "M-me?", she let out, flinching. "J-just a minute! There's no meaning in getting rid of me. My face and style might be outstanding, but I've got no skills. I'm a non-combatant."

The Baroque agents didn't care. "Didn't we just say so? Starting by getting rid of such is the fastest way to work."

As the two approached the girl and came closer and closer, she became more and more scared. The orange-haired knew she was no match for those experienced fighters. "IAAAAAAAAAH!", the coward screamed, running away.

Zoro sweatdropped. "I knew she's useless in fighting, but THAT useless?"

Nonetheless, he rushed to help the 18-year-old as the tall dark-skinned man attempted to slice her. The captain would have his head if he let a nakama die.

Just before Daz hit the ginger, the green-haired blocked his hand-blade. "That's an unusal body.", the passionate swordsman commented.

"Indeed it is.", his foe said. "I ate the Supa Supa no mi and turn my entire body into blades."

Suddenly, Mr. 1 remembered something, something even he shold be wary of. "You're _him,_ aren't you? The swordsman who is said to have cut down 100 men of Whiskey Peak, easily I might add."

"And also the man who, several years ago, turned down an invitation to Baroque works at East Blue and cut down that time's Mr. 7.", the blue-haired woman added.

"That was also you, wasn't it?"

The mosshead openly smirked at them, making fun of Baroque works. "Ha! There's a story that takes me back. That was your fault for not accepting my terms. I told your scout man back then this: 'I will join, if you make me your boss.'. Far from meeting my terms, he took a slash at me. I just put him in his place."

And that's when Koshiro's former student really insulted Baroque works. "Would you like to try to invite me too? Right now, you guys are so ridiculous, I wouldn't even accept the position as your boss."

Crocodile's best man was usually calm, but when it came to the pride of his organization, he was short tempered. His quick attack on the swordsman without thinking was the proof.

"You're making quite the fool of me, huh? You, a swordsman from a small-time band of pirates…"

"In that case, who do you think you guys are?", Sanji's best friend and rival countered. "Puppets without volition of your own, baited into creating a utopia in name only? Ore are you really just tin soldiers…"

" without any substance?!"

Mr. 1 wasn't dumb enough to let anger lead him in battle. He calmed down just enough to think straight and turned his head. "Miss Doublefinger, go after the girl!"

Speaking of 'the girl', the first mate looked around to see where she was, and to his relief, the navigator was gone. "At least she's out of danger for now…"

…

Nami was hiding behind a wall, thinking she was safe. The 18-year-old didn't have haki, a devil fruit or extraordinary fighting skills. Desplite being able to care for herself in the East Blue, the Grand Line was a serious challenge for her.

She remembered Usopp made a new weapon for her, a blue bo-staff with weather abilities. With this help, the orange-haired would at least not need help against weak opponents.

Suddenly, a very spiky spike pierced through a part of her shoulder, from behind the wall! The ginger fell on the ground, holding her bloody wound. More and more gunshot-like holes were appearing on that wall, and shaping a door-like line. When the spots connected and the 'door' fell, Miss Doublefinger walked at the orange-haired. "Miss Doublefinger!"

"That's me. You're probably wondering how I did that. I'm a Spike Human who ate the Toge Toge no mi. I can release spikes from anywhere on my body.", the devil fruit user told her.

'Spikes that can easily pierce through stone walls… If I get caught even once, she'll pierce my entire body with those spikes, and that'll be it for me!'

"Oh, don't tell me you're going to fight me.", the blue-haired said as she watched her opponent stand up.

"That's right!", the navigator yelled, putting the three parts of her stick together. "Take this! My new weapon, Clima-Tact! First, sunny weather! Fine Tempo!"

The results were different than expected. Instead of sunshine, doves came out of the reshapable baton. Reason? Usopp also incorporated party uses for entertainment. The fact that he wrote the instruction for the party uses on the first page of the instruction sheet confused and irritated the former slave of Arlong.

"Wow, amazing! Doves flew out! Ahahahaha! THAT WAS STUPID!"

She changed her expression and attitude in the middle of her sentence just like Dr. Kureha did. Paula was confused and looked at her like that.

"This time, it'll be the end of you! Cloudy Tempo!"

Flowers shot out of the staff she shaped like a pumpgun. "Wow! What pretty flowers! Ahahaha! NO WAY I CAN WIN LIKE THIS!"

Mr. 1's partner sweatdropped and felt sorry for the girl. 'Poor child…'

But that wasn't for long. "Double Stinger!", the slender woman called out, attempting to pierce the Straw Hat Pirate to death.

The money-loving girl was surprised and did the best she could to dodge her enemy's attack. During that part of the battle, she only lost a piece of her cloth.

"Don't you think it's pointless to work so hard to dodge my attacks?", the Paramecia user asked, pulling her finger out of a white wall. "You have no chance."

"You're wrong!", Nami claimed, still reading the first page of the instruction. "According to the instruction, there are tons more attack!"

"Oh, are there?"

"You'll see! The weather forecast is thunder! Thunder Tempo!"

Unluckily for her, instead of thunder, only a red boxing glove on a spring came out of the blue metal stick, which wasn't even long enough to hit the tall woman.

"Thunder Tempo… Thunder Tempo… Thunder…"

"Enough with your magic tricks! Stinger Finger!", the impatient Baroque agent loudly declared, turning her fingers into spikes.

"Kami-e!"

Luffy taught her and Usopp that defensive Rokushiki technique to evade attacks and injuries. This was the first time the navigator had used it and it came in handy.

"Hn!", Miss Doublefinger grunted, complaining about herself failing to kill her enemy. "You were lucky this time, but now I'll kill you for sure! Stinger Hedgehog!"

Growing spikes out of her whole body and rolling herself together like a ball, the hedgehog-like lady rolled at high speed towards a certain ginger who ran for her life. "H-h-hey, hold on! Stop!"

The orange-haired speculated on how to survive. 'I'll get caught if I stay in an open space!'

She noted an open window and jumped inside that random house, hoping the Spike Human would stay outside. But the vicious female followed her and crashed the building's wall open. The 18-year-old saved her own life by taking off her cape, pushing it into the spikes and hurling the person carrying those sharp objects away from her.

By doing that, the girl won a lot of valuable time and read the back side of the instruction. "WHAT?! YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!"

This was when she realized the battle instructions were on the other side and she almost died because of the sniper's stupidity. Now that she knew how to use the Clima-Tact in battle, the usually cowardly girl didn't have a reason to hide anymore. So the brown-eyed waited for her opponent to stand up and show her face again so that she could defeat the Baroque agent on her own.

When Paula finally showed up, Nami surprised her with a short speech. "I won't run or hide anymore. I may not look like it, but during my time as a thief, I survived life-or-death situations all by myself! I can't stand being treated like just an ordinary girl."

"What got you so confident all of a sudden?", the blue-haired questioned the younger, not impressed.

"Listen up, I'm gonna show you my real power now! Heat Ball!"

The ginger blew into one part of her staff and a red bubble came out of it.

"Feels warm.", the tall woman remarked, completely unfazed.

"Cool Ball!"

"Ah, feels cold."

"Thunder Ball!"

"Oh no, that tingled."

Mr. 1's partner decided enough time was wasted, so she made her next move. "Sewing Stinger!"

Running away from the slender woman, the orange-haired silently activated 'Mirage Tempo', creating an illusionary copy of herself. Later, Miss Doublefinger thought she'd fatally injured the navigator, but was shocked when her victim was only a mirage.

"Bad luck, huh?", the real Nami mocked the Baroque agent. "Don't worry, we're not finished yet! Thunderbolt Tempo!"

A lightning struck the elder, who screamed up in agony. She had not imagined getting beaten by that girl. Losing was not an option.

Of course, the battle wasn't over yet. Paula had gotten angrier by every minute passing. "I will not be defeated! Sea Urchin Stinger!"

Her hair turned spiky, as spiky as the name giver of the attack, a sea urchin. With that hair, she charged at the experienced thief.

Just as losing wasn't an option to Miss Doublefinger, it also wan't an option to the Straw Hat. She was fully devoted to help her friend Vivi and resolved to using her Clima-Tact's strongest attack, Tornado Tempo.

"Tornado Tempo!"

Two bird toys on springs shot out of the blue baton. At first Nami was frightened and confused, thinking she must've done something wrong. But those toys did prove her wrong. They winded themselves around her enemy's legs and then the stick's front part wildly spun around like a tornado, dragging the blue-haired with it. Eventually, the stick got out of control and flung the pipe-smoker at a stone wall nearby. The impact was so hard, it left a hole of the Spike Human's silhouette in the wall. The Baroque agent was sent to sleep this time.

"I did it… I did it! Usopp… thank you!", the satisfied bo-fighter called out, heavily breathing. "Vivi… wait for me!"

…

"Santoryu: Ushi Bari!"

Zoro charged at the Blade Human with two of his swords placed forward like bull's horns. The tall dark-skinned man wasn't slow and hardened his body to steel-level hardness, similar to Tekkai. While running at Mr. 1, the green-haired executed another attack, stronger than the former. "Santoryu: Toro Nagashi!"

Daz Bones claimed nobody could cut or injure him thanks to his steel body. A certain swordsman from East Blue proved him otherwise as he cut through his hardened body, even if only by millimeters.

"You can cut steel?!", the man from West Blue exclaimed, hissing in pain. He wasn't used to injuries and defeat, so pain for him was far more difficult to handle than pain for the mosshead, who experienced physical and psychological pain his whole life.

"Nah, not yet, at least not fully.", the 19-year-old stated, confidently grinning. "Before our encounter, I had never been able to cut iron or steel. But after I defeat you, I'll be able to say I can cut both."

The Baroque agent furiously growled at the first mate's permissible arrogance. "There's one thing, you WON'T defeat me!"

Zoro laughed at the former bounty hunter. "Wanna bet? I made a promise to never lose again, so I doubt I'll be the one who loses."

Gritting his teeth, Mr. 1 prepared to attack the young man from Shimotsuki Village. He was kind of thrilled though, having found a foe with an actual chance of fighting toe to toe with him. "Alright, let's see if you're a worthy opponent! Spar Claw!"

Daz turned the undersides of his fingers into blades and slashed at his opponent with them. Marimo, as fast as he was, blocked the onslaught of slashes without serious effort. The Baroque agent chased the swordsman along the very long street. Eventually, the green-haired managed to kick his enemy, stopping the attacks.

"Santoryu: Oni Giri!"

He slashed at the Blade Human, knocking him on the ground, jumping in the air after that. "Santoryu: Tora Gari!"

Only minor injuries were caused, but Crocodile's best man already saw him as a threat. "Seems like I've underestimated you, swordsman. Now that I'll go all out on you, there's no way for you to defeat me! Sparking Daisy!"

After a wrist-to-wrist attack, the building behind the mosshead was sliced up into six pieces. But having closed his eyes, the muscular light tanned man avoided every single slash due to his Observation haki. "Your attacks are pretty lame."

The moss-haired stepped up. He observed he was superior to his foe, so the self-confident young man became more and more determined to cut through steel. "Santoryu: Gazami Dori!"

Any normal human or humanoid being except giants would be decapitated by this attack. Three horizontal blades clamped down on the assasin and cut in his flesh. The victim of this brutal attack screamed up in pain, although surpressed and in a deep voice. "AAAAAAARGH!"

Blood came out of the centimeter-deep wounds. The former bounty hunter was very lucky the Straw Hat pirate didn't hit an artery. "D-d-d-damn! Atomic Spurt!"

This was Mr. 1's last attempt to get rid of the green-haired, but the latter saw that coming.

'He's gonna wait for the momentum, then attempt to slice my throat up with his sharp hands.'

Without opening his eyes, Zoro performed his deadly finisher, using only one sword. "Ittoryu lai: Shishi Sonson!"

The winner walked away without looking back, while the loser fell over due to bloodloss out of his torso and inhuman pain. The victor had just cut steel, thus fulfilling one of his childhood dreams. Later, he would fulfill another dream, cutting diamond.

"Let's get to Vivi, shall we?"

…

With Luffy:

"Oh no!", Pell shouted, looking at the center of Alubarna. "The armies are about to clash!"

Indeed a worrying sight. Over two million people about to clash, over a million people about to die if this event wasn't stopped. At that point, the army leaders, Chaka and Kohza, were only 300 meters away from each other.

"I can take care of that.", Luffy spoke, getting the falcon's attention.

"How? You're just a normal…"

Not allowing his means of transport finish his sentence, the future Pirate King let out an especially strong blast of King's haki, allowing only the highest-ranked members of the armies stay conscious. Everyone, including the Zoan user, couldn't believe what they just saw.

"W-what did you-"

"King's haki.", the exceptionally intelligent boy answered. "Listen, you have to hurry! There is a bomb powerful enough to level a city in the clocktower, you have to defuse it. And that's not enough, Crocodile survived and is in this town, I have to beat him up again!"

Still confused, the head guard of Alabasta nodded. "Okay, I'll go check and you take care of Crocodile!"

That said, the 17-year-old jumped off the Alabastan who sweatdropped to the kid's craziness. 'He's powerful, but not very bright…'

…

As the pirate captain walked down the tomb where the Poneglyph of Pluton is located, he sensed two auras vanishing forever. Pell did kill the two in the clocktower, Mr. 7 and Miss Father's day. 'Good!', he thought. 'Now only Crocodile!'

…

Sir Crocodile was not amused. Although he survived and his partner managed to get the king down the tomb, sooner or later his organization would be made public as the country's real enemy. Until that, he wanted to know where the ancient weapon was located, to steal it and then get the hell outta there!

"So,", he said, walking near the archaeologist, "where is Pluton?"

The Oharan carefully read the Poneglyph but lied about its content. "Kahira falls to Alabasta, Year of Heaven 239. The Bitein Dynasty of Taymar begins its rule, Year 260. Great Taph Temple completed in Erumalu, Year 306. The Hero of Oltea, Mamudin..."

"What?!", the Shichibukai exclaimed in disbelief. "Where is Pluton's location, I don't want to know about this country's history!"

Miss All-Sunday turned her head at the 'hero of Alabasta'. "I'm sorry, but Pluton wasn't even mentioned once."

"Oh, I see.", the scarred man muttered, lowering his gaze. "If that's the case, you're no longer of use to me.". He made her take a good look at his golden hook, before attempting to stab her with it. "Die!"

Luckily for the intelligent woman, an stern, shiny black grip formed around her boss' hook. The owner of this hand looked at the Sand Logia with murderous eyes. "Killing her off because she's of no use to you? Typical for scum like you!"

Not just the teenager's eyes turned dark. "You… GRRRRRRR, I'm so angry at you I could vaporize the sea!"

"You might be fuming out of anger because I crossed your plans,", the grave black-haired told, "but I'm beyond enraged for what you did to Vivi, Alabasta and even your own people. Vivi is MY nakama, and you made her cry. Always keep in mind that I'll make everyone pay who only thinks about making my nakama cry. But you did it on another level, so get ready for a beating not even the one who chopped your arm off could imagine beating it into you. GOMU GOMU NO PISTOL!"

With an uppercut, the wealthy man was sent flying at the tomb's ceiling. But that wasn't all. The serious boy proudly wearing his captain's coat inflated himself, then winding himself around him to jump off, blowing air out like a balloon to fly high in the air, just to land a relentless barrage of haki-coated punches at the future Level-6 prisoner.

After coughing up lots of blood, Alabasta's biggest criminal collapsed in the air, falling down hard on the stone ground of the capital's city square.

Due to this extremely powerful attack, the tomb began to collapse. The strawhat punched the cigar-smoker through a thick layer of bedrock after all.

Luffy had one thing in mind: saving the two fellow humans beside him. Imminent danger was close by and put of those he had to save, one was a future nakama.

He picked both of them up, and jumped up very high. The female one of the people in his arms resisted against her savior. "Why are you saving me? I want to die! Just leave me down here and go away, understand?!"

'Oh Robin, I understand you, but why do you have to hate life THAT much?'

"Listen to me!", the pirate shouted. "I'm a pirate, I don't follow anyone's orders. If I want to save you, I save you. If I don't want to save you, I don't save you. Don't question my ideals!"

Right before the tomb collapsed, Garp's grandson escaped getting buried alive, along with Nefeltari Cobra and Nico Robin. The moment he landed on his feet somewhere in Alubarna's outskirts, the honorable lawbreaker let go of the raven-haired. "Run! Go hide somewhere, I'd hate to see you get arrested."

She didn't question him. Without hesitation, she ran away. A relieved smile formed in the rubber man's face. He stepped two steps forward, but fainted with the third step.

Black barred his view. The only thing he needed right now was sleep, lots of sleep.

* * *

 **Yooooo, I'm finally finished! Although this chapter was shorter than Chopper's one, it took me much more time and work. Once again, sorry for having you waiting, but exams kept me busy. Anyways, peace out!**


	16. C16: 5 days in the Castle

**Never again!**

 **So, I hear you guys liked the recent chapter. That's what I love about you guys, thank you very much. This chapter will be a chapter inbetween, marking the end of the Alabasta Saga. The Sky Island Saga, one of the funniest Sagas IMO, will follow. Stay hyped!**

 **Answer to PortugueseRonaldo: Thank you very much!**

 **Answer to Lightningblade49: The battle in the desert will stay a secret. You're right about the bounty increase though, it will be greater than the original increase.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**

 **Chapter 16: 5 days in the Castle**

Day 2 in the Castle:

The first thing Luffy saw when he opened up his eyes were his nakama looking at him, worried. As the boy looked around, he found himself lying on a luxurious bed in a room filled with the same beds. "Oi, where am I?"

"You're in the infirmary.", Chopper informed. "You were out for one day."

Blinking up, the strawhat rubbed his head. "One day? What exactly happened while I was gone?"

Vivi had so many good things to tell. That was no surprise, since many good things concerning her kingdom happened during that time. "Igaram is well and here!", she beamed. "And the Royal Army made peace with the Rebel Army, and it started to rain again, naturally! But the biggest news is, Crocodile was arrested and the fact that you defeated him spread like pollen here in Alabasta. You were even declared the new Hero of Alabasta! Of course, the Marines tried to cover it all up, but failed miserably. If you want, you can stay here forever."

Shuddering about a permanent stay before becoming Pirate King, the 17-year-old waved 'no' with his hands. "No thanks, we'll only stay here for 5 days. But since I've just learned I was asleep for a whole day, that'll shorten the stay to 4 days."

Clapping his hands once, the black-haired emerged from his bed. "Anyways, I've missed 4 meals, considering you guys have already had breakfast. Can you guide me to the dining room? I want to catch up with the food."

"You've just woken up and the first thing you think about is food?!", all Straw Hats beside the captain exclaimed.

The princess, not a crewmember anymore, slightly laughed and calmed the others down. "Hey hey, it's not a big deal, let's go eat something."

Listening to the bluenette, the pirates did calm down and followed her showing the way to the dining room.

…

"MMMHHHYAAAA, THIS IS GOOD!", the gluttonous captain called, filling his bottomless stomach with fine food Igaram's wife Terracotta made. She could definitely say that teen was the hardest challenge in her entire life, even though the son of the most wanted man alive didn't even eat a third of what he ate in his previous life.

Zoro slightly smiled in embarrassment. Yes, his captain was embarrassing him in front of the royal family and dozens of guards. 'Why does he suddenly lose his brain when it comes to food?'

Some questions couldn't be answered. So thought Sanji as he didn't question his captain's behavior around food. That didn't mean the smoker didn't ask questions at all. The suit-wearing cook asked Terracotta about Alabasta's recipes, which would be a good addition on his way to the world's best cook.

King Cobra on the other hand laughed at the sometimes immature pirate, finding him amusing. He wasn't an all-strict boring person either.

Which the royal did prove in the royal bath, where he played around with everyone else inside.

…

Later that night, Nefeltari Cobra invited the future Pirate King in his personal room in order to discuss important matters with him. Luffy just entered the big, noble room.

"You called me?"

"Sit down.", Cobra said, pointing at a brown leather seat. "I summoned you here to talk to you about stuff."

"Such as?"

"First, I want to thank you with all my heart for saving our country. Your actions mean a lot to us and our people."

"Oh, it was a pleasure. You don't have to thank me about that."

"I insist on thanking you!"

"Well, if that's the case…"

The elder one's face turned serious, just like he himself. "Second, why did you let Nico Robin escape?"

This caught the strawhat's interest. "Nico Robin?"

"Yes, Miss All-Sunday, the Demon of Ohara. Why did you let her run away?"

"Hmmmmmm", the 80 Million Berry man thought out loud. "Have you ever heard of haki?"

"Haki?", the Alabastan repeatead, wondering how that was related to his question. "Yes, I've heard of it. It's a power strong and powerful people use, what about it?"

"Observation haki allows you to see one's aura. Not only that, it also allows you to see if that aura is evil or not.", the intelligent boy explained. "Robin's aura wasn't evil, so I decided to let her go."

"Oh, I see.", the king muttered. "If she's not evil, then maybe that's the reason she lied to Crocodile about the Poneglyph's content."

"She lied?", the pirate captain asked, surprised. He hadn't heard of that before.

"Have you heard of Pluton?", Vivi's father asked.

"Yeah, but only once. It's said to be a super destructive warship, right?"

"Yes, a warship capable of island-level destruction.", Cobra confirmed. "When I was in the tomb, she claimed Pluton wasn't even mentioned once in the Poneglyph, but in truth this specific Poneglyph tells the exact location of Pluton and even serves as a manual. I really don't know why she lied…"

"Maybe because she didn't want Crocodile to have Pluton?", the 17-year-old suggested. "Perhabs she joined Baroque works to backstab Crocodile and prevent him from finding that warship again. Remeber, she's not evil."

Alabasta's ruler nodded. "If that's true,", he began, "then she really isn't evil, just like you say."

Letting out a small moan, the younger black-haired stood up from his chair. "If that's everything you wanted to say to me, may I ask something in return?"

"Sure thing, what do you want to ask me?"

"If you allow me to do so,", Luffy started, slightly nervous, "may I protect Alabasta with my flag?"

Nefeltari Cobra almost jumped all the way up to the ceiling. "YOU WHAT?!"

"Well, Vivi was my nakama and still is a good friend of me and my crew, so if you don't have anything against it, we would like to protect her home island."

"But Alabasta is with the World Government.", the middle-aged man argued. "They won't allow you to do so."

Dragon's son chuckled. "They won't care, I already claimed some islands as my territory and they haven't done anything about it yet. Look at the Yonko, they own countless islands and the World Government doesn't hate them for this. They hate them for other reasons."

The black-haired king chuckled as well. "You're far from a Yonko, don't you think so too?"

"Give me two years and I'll become one."

"What the actual…", the baffled ruler let out, sweatdropping. He had never seen such an overconfident person and never heard such a bold statement.

"And about the territory thing, I don't demand anything, I'm just doing it for my friend, Vivi. That's all."

Not thinking long about it, the caring king, man and father sighed, accepting. "Fine. I'll tell the guards to hang your flags around."

Hearing that, the rubber man gave the Vivi's dad his bright smile. "Shishishi, thanks! I'm going out now, good night King Cobra-san!"

"Good night, Strawhat."

With that, the Alabastan sighed again, calling his best men to his office. "Igaram, Chaka, Pell! We need to talk!"

…

Day 3 in the Castle:

Over the night, the news on how Monkey D. Luffy claimed the Desert Kingdom of Alabasta as Straw Hat Territory reached the world.

In the morning, after waking up, "Strawhat" Luffy received three envelopes, which he opened up. The first one was an invitation to an interview by an Alabastan news agency. The interview would be held one day later.

"An interview!", Nami stated, visibly excited about it. "Are you going to hold it?"

"Of course!", the devil fruit user piped up. "I have so many things to tell Alabasta's people."

"Make sure not to tell them bullshit.", Sanji joked.

"I won't."

"Luffy, Luffy!", Chopper exclaimed, jumping up so that he could see the small hybrid. "What's in the next envelope?"

The second envelope was just containing an updated wanted poster of him and a new one of Zoro.

 **Wanted: Dead or Alive: Monkey D. Luffy, 160.000.000 Berry**

 **Wanted: Dead or Alive: Roronoa Zoro, 60.000.000 Berry**

"Sugoooi!", same reindeer exclaimed again, stars in his eyes. "Such high bounties, amazing!"

"Yeah.", Usopp added, patting his captain's shoulders. "I'm proud of you, Captain, show the world how powerful you are!"

"They- they doubled your bounty…", the frightened navigator stuttered in disbelief.

"Why doesn't anybody say something about my bounty?!", the green-haired furiously roared with sharp teeth.

"Because no one cares about you.", the cook said, infuriating the swordsman even more.

"Says the one with a bounty of 0 Berry!", the mosshead snarled at his friendly rival. "Shitty cook!"

"What did you say, Shitty Marimo?!", the blond yelled, annoyed.

The pirate captain rolled his eyes and gave the fighting duo a quick annoyed glance. "I'm opening up the third one!", he spoke up with a loud, commanding voice, stopping the bickering.

To his very surprise, it was an offer for the title of a Shichibukai.

"Guys, they are offering me to become a Shichibukai!"

Vivi, who was quiet all the time and only smiled, jumped up from her seat and started shouting in disbelief. "WHAT?! They want you to become a freaking Shichibukai?! No way!"

"But it's true.", the future Pirate King stated, supported by his first mate.

"I told you before, don't underestimate Luffy!"

She opened her mouth for a second but decided to close it.

"If you still don't believe me, I can quote the letter."

Then he started reading it out loud.

" _To: Monkey D. Luffy_

 _From: The World Government, Marine Headquarters at Marineford_

 _Monkey D. Luffy, captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, also known as "Strawhat" Luffy,_

 _Due to your recent defeat of the treacherous ex-Royal Shichibukai Sir Crocodile, who was the leader of the criminal organization 'Baroque works', which, against the condition of becoming a Royal Shichibukai, tried to overthrow the Kingdom of Alabasta, a member of the World Government, we have deemed you worthy enough to become the successor of Sir Crocodile as a Royal Shichibukai._

 _If you accept our offer, your bounty and the bounties of your crew will be frozen and you will be allowed to operate as one of the only government-sanctioned pirate warlords. You will be granted protection by the government as well as several other privileges, which include the use of the government-only Tarai current, the right to request any government vessel, the ability to earn normally-illegal money without government interferance, as well as the ability to turn in non-Shichibukai pirates and earn their bounties._

 _Of course, you must pay a price for this position. You will be required to refrain from any activities that go directly against the laws of the World Government. In addition to that, if you are summoned by the World Government, you must appear within 48 hours. An even greater rule is, that you will have to obey every command coming from the government or the Marines. If you go against the government, refuse to carry out your orders, get beaten or publicly humiliated, or resign yourself, your bounty will cease to be frozen again and you'll be hunted just like before._

 _Should you accept, your title will be given to you after your presence at the Marine Headquarters at Marineford. If you are unable to come to the meeting by yourself, a government vessel will be sent to pick you up._

 _Becoming one of the pirates approved by the World Government is a great honor and rarely given to rookies such as yourself. However, you have proven yourself to be worthy of that title with your actions in East Blue and now in the Grand Line. Due to your actions, you have gained yourself a reputation practically overnight._

 _Should you refuse our generous offer, your bounty will continue to rise and you'll be hunted down like any other pirate._

 _We're waiting for your answer and hope you'll make the right choice._

 _-Vice Admiral Tsuru"_

"So,", Zoro asked with his right brow raised, "are you going to accept it?"

The Shichibukai nomination started laughing very loud. "AAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Zoro, do you really believe I'm going to accept it? The future Pirate King won't bow to anyone!"

All the others were quiet, but smiled nonetheless at their captain's wise decision. If he would accept to be a government dog, they could never fulfill their dreams.

"That's what I wanted to hear!", the 19-year-old declared with a proud face. "I would have left you if you accepted to be commanded by the Marines and World Government."

"Luffy,", a curious Vivi spoke, "what are you going to write as a response? You refused their offer, how will you express that?"

"It's simple.", the teenager answered. "I'll write a letter and I'm gonna start right now."

That said, he walked out of the room in search for a free office room with a sheet of paper and a pen.

…

After a few hours, Luffy finished his own letter to the World Government on why he won't accept the Shichibukai status. In the paper bin below the office table, 3 crumpled up sketches were lying on the ground. The strawhat wasn't very experienced with letters and formal writing, so he needed multiple tries. But in the end, he managed to write a more or less formal letter that wasn't half bad.

 _To: World Government, Marine HQ at Marineford_

 _From: Monkey D. Luffy_

 _Dear Marines,_

 _I'm flattered you view me worthy enough of the Shichibukai position and acknowledge my strength and danger towards the World Government, but I've become a pirate for two reasons: my freedom and my dreams. If I accepted your offer, I'd not only lose both, but also any respect I might have gained amongst other pirates, some civilians and even the Revolutionaries._

 _Let me tell you one thing: Me and my crew won't attack the government or civilians first, but if we're attacked first, we will take action. Since you hate us anyway for flying a pirate flag, I might tolerate attacks on our ship, but if one of my crewmates is targeted individually, this won't stay unanswered. And if any of the islands under our protection gets attacked by you, we will also respond._

 _Good luck in finding a good Shichibukai replacement_

 _-Monkey D. Luffy_

The 17-year-old put the letter into a fresh white envelope and asked a servant of the palace to send it to the Marine HQ.

"Oi!", the black-haired yelled, storming off the office room after the servant made his way to the post office. "I'm hungry, get me some meat!"

…

Day 4 in the Castle:

"Hurry up Luffy, your interview is in less than an hour!", Nami impatiently shouted at her captain, who was dressing up too slowly in her eyes.

"Pipe down Ginger, it's not like we have to walk.", Zoro snapped at the nagging girl, annoyed.

"Oi Marimo, talk with some respect to Nami-swan!", Sanji demanded, his face close to his rival's one.

"Shut up Ero-cook, I talk how I want!"

Another argument between these two started, with one of them soon grabbing the other's collar.

"Enough!", the future Pirate King interrupted the fight. "You yourselves said you want to look good, yet you're ruining your suits! Choose one, bruises or looking good. Neither one of you can have both."

The rest of the time dressing up for the interview went on quiet and neatly. In the end, they all looked well-dressed and fine. The males in black (Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Usopp) and grey (Chopper) suits, and the only female in a blue and white dress.

"Yosh!", the 160 Million Berry man exclaimed, walking down the stairs of the royal palace alongside his nakama towards a noble carriage. "Let's hold this interview!"

…

Countless people gathered in front of the stage where the new Hero of Alabasta was going to hold his interview. Even more people watched from their own cities over Visual Den Den Mushies. Beside the Alabastans, a lot of other people would watch the interview too, the Marines, the Revolutionaries, the Underworld Emperors and powerful pirates, since that was an international broadcast.

When the Straw Hats arrived in their carriage, the reporter ordered silence among the spectators, waiting for his guest to sit down. Microphones placed on the table seperating the sleek black-haired man with an elegant mustache and the straw-hatted pirate would send out everything these two would say over large speakers to the curious people in front of the stage.

"Welcome to your interview, Monkey D. Luffy, how are you today?", the reporter in a black-and-white-striped suit greeted Garp's grandson.

"I'm fine, thank you.", the well-known young pirate responded in a friendly manner.

"Tell me, how does it feel like, being the Hero of Alabasta?"

"Sorry to disappoint you,", the rubber man interjected, "but I'm not a hero."

"How so?", the mustached man asked, confused.

"Look at this: You have a piece of meat. A hero shares the meat, but I want the meat for myself. I'm not a hero."

Sweatdropping, the interviewer asked the boy in front of him a critical question regarding his view on a hero. "Is that how you describe a hero?"

"Yes, although Alabasta's people will still see me as their hero. I'll give you another example: If I accidently beat a Yonko, which honestly won't happen any time soon, I'd have to accept the position, even if I don't want to. My dream is to become Pirate King, not a Yonko. The point is, if you are given a title you can't reject, you have to live with it, even if you don't want to or don't see yourself as it."

Sweatdropping once more, the pretty perplexed Alabastan decided to change the topic. "Strawhat Luffy, we've heard you are on friendly terms with Alabasta's royal family, especially Princess Vivi-sama, what exactly is your connection to her, and how have you met her?"

"Well,", the tallest Straw Hat began, "it's a long story. At first we were enemies, considering she worked for the criminal organization Baroque works. After we found out she was just infiltrating Baroque works to find out who threatened her country and some Baroque agents tried to kill her in front of our eyes, we decided to protect her. During our journey over two islands, she and us got very close and eventually we decided to take her in as our nakama. Because Vivi was our nakama, we of course decided to help her out. Later, on Alabasta, me and my crew fought Baroque works to stop them from taking over her country and won. Basically, that's the short summary on how we met our nakama Vivi."

"Interesting story.", the amazed man remarked, changing the topic again. "Yesterday it was made official you declared our country as your territory, can you explain why?"

"I did it mainly for Vivi, but also for her people. As Straw Hat territory, Alabasta is directly under our protection, so if someone wants to harm this country or its people, they'd have to go through us first."

"Do you have other islands under your protection?"

"Yes, several islands in East Blue and Drum Island on the Grand Line. There are two interesting facts about those islands. First, three, or four if we count Vivi, out of five, or six, out of my nakama have their home islands protected under our flag. Second, most of these islands have once had interactions with evil pirates. The other two are special cases."

"Okay, I have two questions regarding your second fact. First, elaborate what an evil pirate is to you. Second, what do you mean with special cases?"

"To me, there are two kinds of pirates, the evil ones and the good ones. Evil pirates are just being dicks and attacking civilians, causing harm to others. They are ruining the reputation of good pirates, who are just being pirates to be free, chase their dreams and go on adventures. I dislike any pirate or person in general who hurts civilians."

"I like your view on pirates, Luffy-san. Say, do you like civilians?"

"Well, yes, I like civilians and want them to believe not every pirate is bad, although most are. I adore good-hearted civilians, but hate bad ones who have fun harming others. All civilians in the world, don't worry, me and my crew would never attack you."

"Good job Luffy-san, you're a good example on how to be a good pirate. And what do you think about the Marines?"

"The Marines will hunt me and try to kill me anyway cause I'm a pirate, a dangerous criminal. But there are differences in my thoughts about Marines. I respect Marines who really care about protecting the innocent and taking down bad guys, but I loathe corrupt Marines or those who won't think twice about sacrificing innocent lives for the sake of 'Absolute Justice'. Always keep in mind that not every Marine is good, just like half the pirates are total assholes."

"You know what, Luffy-san, I never thought I'd like criminals, but I'm making an exception on you and your crew."

"Thanks. I recall you asking about the special cases?"

"Ahh, yes of course. What are those special cases exactly?"

"One island was targeted by an evil Marine, Commodore Nelson Royale. But he's no longer a threat, since that fatass is sleeping with the fish right now."

The interviewer shivered a bit. "Sleeping with the fish? Don't tell me you've killed him!"

"It's easier to understand than you think. I sunk his warship, but he sunk with it. Why? That bastard was fatter than Yonko Big Mom herself, so he couldn't escape the sinking warship. In short, that was only indirect murder."

"Indirect murder?"

"How do I express this? Err, you do something that leads to a secondary cause to kill the victim. Like for example, errm, you push somebody into the path of a bullet. It's the bullet that kills the victim, but you're the reason why the bullet hit him or her. That's indirect murder for you."

For the third time, the Alabastan sweatdropped. "Any other cases of indirect murder amongst your crew?"

"Yeah, one involving my navigator, but that was more of self-defense."

"Self-defense?"

"This corrupt mercenary that corrupt Marine I mentioned earlier sent out to do his dirty work. After we thwarted their disgusting plans, said mercenary went after us and tried to kill us. To defend herself, Nami, my navigator, knocked him off the railing. Because he was a devil fruit user, he probably died after falling into the water."

"Ahh.", the reporter said. "I understand. And what's with the other special case?"

"It's more of a holiday island. If we wanted to have a few days off from civilization, we could go there and enjoy our stay in the beautiful nature. Goat Island, East Blue. If anyone wants to go there, I'm fine with it. As long as no one harms the goats there of course."

"Thank you for claryifying. Now, would you mind telling us about your crew?"

"Finally, I was waiting for you to ask that! First, there's me, Monkey D. Luffy, the captain. I ate the Gomu Gomu no mi and my dream is to become Pirate King. Second, there's Roronoa Zoro, the 60 Million Berry man you probably know by now. He's the first mate and his dream is to become the world's greatest swordsman. Third, there's Nami, our navigator. Her dream is to draw a complete map of the world. Fourth, there's Sanji, our cook. He's the blond guy and his dream is to find the All Blue. Fifth, there's Usopp, our sniper. He's the long-nosed guy and he wants to become a brave warrior of the sea. At last, there's Chopper, our doctor. Yes, the reindeer. He ate the Hito Hito no mi and his dream is to find a cure for every incurable disease there is. Together, we are nakama, like a family, chasing our dreams."

"Wow, dreams must mean a lot to you!"

"How right you are! Dreams, along with freedom, are the most important things for us. Everyone, remember this: You are nothing without dreams. Dreams, dreams will never end."

"Very inspiring! Here's my final question, how do you plan continuing your trip?"

"Simple, I beat up some bad guys and become Pirate King. On my way to that, I will recruit some people who seem worthy enough to sail with me, other than that, I'll live my life."

"Anything else you want to say?"

"Follow your dreams, live free, and don't harm my nakama or islands."

"Thank you for your time, Monkey D. Luffy."

"No problem."

…

"That was amazing!", Nami beamed up to Luffy's face. "You did a great job!"

"Well, hehe!", Dragon's son said, turning red. "That was nothing."

"You really did give a great interview.", Zoro praised him. "Especially in that part about dreams."

"Yeah, I hope more people care about the All Blue now.", Sanji said.

"Let's go eat something!", the 17-year-old called out, changing the topic. "I haven't eaten for two whole hours!"

'It's official, his brains stops working when it comes to food.'

…

Minutes after the interview was held, the newspapers started printing. In just a few hours, most of the world got aware of the young D.'s words and different people had different reactions.

…

At Marineford:

Fleet Admiral's office:

"BWAAAAHAHAHAHA! That's my Luffy!", Garp laughed, shedding tears, proud of his grandson. "I never thought he'd mature, BWAAAAHAHAHAHA!"

"GAAAAARP! This isn't the time to laugh!", Sengoku angrily scolded him.

"Why not?", the Marine Hero asked, still chuckling. "Haven't you seen the interview?"

"I've seen it, and I'm not pleased. And not only that, he also refused the Shichibukai offer. Seriously Garp, there is something wrong with your family."

"But still, you have to admit he's mature for his age."

"He is, but that makes him even more dangerous, look at your son! Was not the brightest in his youth, now one of the most intelligent, and most _wanted,_ criminals alive."

"Don't worry, when I meet him, he's going to feel the Fist of Love."

"I hope so!"

…

Admiral's room:

"Lies!", Admiral Akainu roared, slamming the newspaper on the table. "There are no good pirates! Just ones less bad than the others."

"Huuuh? Maybe that kid is the least bad pirate alive.", Admiral Kizaru suggested, talking slowly like always.

"No way! He is the worst for disgracing my beloved absolute justice. Say, where's Kuzan?"

"I think he went out to ride his bike again."

"Ah, his faggy bike!", Sakazuki cursed. "I really hate THAT about him."

"I think it's cool."

"Nobody asked you, Borsalino!"

…

Somewhere in the New World:

"Daaahahahaha!", Shanks laughed, wielding his nakama over with the newspaper. "Look at Anchor's interview."

"Damn.", Benn let out, surprised how much his old friend grew up in 10 years. "Didn't expect him to mature that much. It's almost creepy."

"Says you Benn!", the red-haired teased, much to his first mate's annoyance. "Hey Yasopp, look! Isn't that your son?"

Yasopp looked at the photo of the Straw Hat Pirates dressed in suits and dresses. "My son has come such a long way, I can't wait to see his first bounty!", he said, shedding tears of joy.

"Daaahahahahaha!", the two-armed Yonko laughed. "Let's celebrate the Straw Hats' victory over Crocodile!"

'Luffy, you've taken down your first Shichibukai, I'm so proud of you!'

…

Whole Cake Island:

"WHAAAAAAAT?!", Charlotte Linlin almost screamed after reading the interview. "How dare this brat calls me fat! Perospero, find out about his family members so that I can send him one of their heads!"

"Perorin~, of course, mama, I will work on it."

…

With Barto Club, East Blue:

"LUFFY-SENPAAAAI!", a certain green-haired exclaimed, tears running down face. Luffy's biggest fan had just read his interview and his words changed the sharp-toothed's view on who to attack and who not.

"Alright, fellow Luffy fans!", the pirate captain spoke up, getting his crew's attention. "We will raid some pirate ships and give the money to the civilians we robbed, understand?"

"YES, FOR LUFFY-SENPAI! LONG LIVE CIVILIANS!"

…

On the Moby Dick:

"Gurarararara!", Whitebeard laughed, reading the newspaper. "Is this brat really Sabo and Ace's brother? He's nothing like those two brats described him to me."

"Right, -yoi", Marco commented, slightly smiling. His captain was right, that kid was nothing like the Second Divison Commanders described him. "I'm gonna ask Sabo about this. Sa-"

"You don't need to call me, I've already heard you.", a blond young man wearing a top hat stated, coming out of the ship's movie room along with a group of other Whitebeard Pirates. "We've seen the interview and talked about my brother's personality. This can't be true, has someone hit his head? Nah, that can't be possible, he's immune to blunt hits. Wait… what if some powerful dude with haki hit his head, changing something in his brain? Pops, may I have your permission to leave the ship, I need to check on my brother!"

Everyone on board except Sabo and sleeping Thatch burst out in laughter, ridiculing 'Black Rod''s big-brother-complex.

"THIS ISN'T FUNNY!"

…

Mihawk's coffin boat, somewhere in the Grand Line:

"Ah.", the best swordsman in the world let out, looking at the wanted posters of the young pirates he is watching. The pale man in his early 40's had just read the interview and failed to not be amazed. "These two will become big personalities once, I can tell that."

'Good job Roronoa Zoro, I expect nothing less than this if you're going to surpass me.'

…

Revolutionary Army Base, Baltigo:

Monkey D. Dragon stared intensively at the newspaper in his hands. He could definitely say he was proud of his offspring, being that mature at this age.

'Luffy, you're making your father proud. Your wanted posters, your bounty, your wisdom, your strength. If I fail with my goal, you could definitely fulfill it.'

"Dragon-san!", a young woman with short blonde hair exclaimed, storming into his office. "There are big news! Marine activities have increased around this area and Ivankov-san is calling you."

"Ivankov you say? Bring me the Den Den Mushi he's calling me on, Koala!"

"Right away, Dragon-san!"

…

3 hours later, when it was evening, Luffy called his nakama and Vivi into his room. The pirate captain called them in to be with him while he calls the number his older brother gave him before leaving.

"Everyone, I'm calling Whitebeard!"

"WHAT?!", everyone else exclaimed, Vivi shuddering in fear.

"Whitebeard? THE Whitebeard? One of the Yonko and the strongest man in the world?"

Nami acted straight and hit her captain on his head. "Are you mad?! You can't just call a Yonko, it- it can't be that easy!"

"Relax!", the strawhat said, not hurt or anything. "Ace gave me his number and he is a commander. Besides, Old Man is that kind of person who considers family of his family, which Ace and my other brother Sabo are part of, family too. Just relax, the world won't go down."

So the black-haired did call the Moby Dick on his own Den Den Mushi, him and his friends waiting for someone to answer. When someone DID answer, everyone flinched at the angry voice answering.

"LUFFY! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!", that angry voice roared in the snail.

"What do you mean, Sabo?", the teen asked, aware of what his brother meant.

"Your interview of course, what else could I mean?"

"So?", the boy asked, frowning. "What's with the interview?"

"DON'T PLAY DUMB ON ME, MONKEY D. LUFFY, WE BOTH KNOW ABOUT WHAT I MEAN! Your personality is weird, Lu, how can you be so mature and intelligent, it's not possible you could've mentally aged that much since Ace and I left, it's only been three years! Tell me, who has hit your head or performed brain surgery on you, I'm gonna beat him up!"

The kid burst out in laughter. "Hahahahahaha! You sound like Ace!"

Sabo's expression changed. "Ha, you're dead wrong! My reaction was not even close to what Ace's reaction would be. He's even overly protective of ME, a Division Commander! What do you think he'd do if he finds out about what happened to you? He'd… I don't even want to imagine the things that narcoleptic idiot with that super annoying big-brother-complex would do. Here's my advice: If you see Ace, RUN! He probably interrupted his search for Blackbeard and went after you to drag you onto Moby Dick and interrogate you on who made you smarter, just to violently kill him or her afterwards."

Luffy's nakama, including the princess, cringed at that. Apparently, the friendly older brother they had met suffered from an almost psychopathic big-brother-complex.

"Okay Sabo, I'll follow your advice. So, tell me about you, we haven't seen each other for three years!"

'Black Rod' Sabo smiled, happy his little brother wants to know about his adventures. "Me and Ace left as co-captains, forming the Pipe Rod Pirates. Our trademark was fighting with pipes. Together, we've built a formidable crew and became infamous super rookies and were later known as the best pipe fighters worldwide. That was, until Ace got his Mera Mera no mi and gave me his pipe, the best and hardest in the world. After that, I taught myself the 'Dual Pipe Style' and still hold the title for the world's best pipe fighter. Enough with my skills, somewhere in the New World, we encountered Pops after this freckled fool wanted to beat him to make a name for himself. He ultimately failed and we, the Pipe Rod Pirates, were integrated into the Whitebeard Pirates. It wasn't bad as it may sound, we were given a family and Pops made Ace feel content enough to share his secret. Honestly, we don't regret anything at all. Oh, have I told you Ace sunk a whole fleet once?"

"Wow!", the future Pirate King remarked, everyone around him equally amazed. "You've had a great time, haven't you?"

"You can say that."

"Sabo,", the 17-year-old spoke, changing the topic. "Can you hand the Den Den Mushi over to your captain?"

"Pops? Uhh, yeah, I can do that. It was nice hearing your voice, I hope to see you again sometime. Bye Lu!"

"Bye Sabo!"

Silence engulfed the room for about ten seconds, until a different, deep voice spoke into the snail phone. "Edward Newgate here, am I talking with Strawhat Luffy?"

"Ahh, hello there, Whitebeard-ossan, it's an honor speaking with the strongest man in the world."

The eyes of all other Straw Hats widened, their captain was speaking to the literally strongest man in the world, leader of the most fearsome armada roaming the seas. 'Don't say something stupid, don't say something stupid!', they all thought, sweating buckets.

"Gurarararara! It's an honor to speak to you too, boldest brat in the world. Declaring islands as your own and publicly insulting Big Mom… I didn't expect any less from my two brats' brat brother. Looks like some of what they've told us is true."

Some of the Straw Hats almost fainted. 'Whitebeard himself making compliments to Luffy? Wow, just wow…'. Chopper only thought the rubber man was super cool and the right man to follow.

"Thanks. Ace gave me your number."

"Ace? Good for him. Is there anything specific you want to tell me, or even become one of my sons?"

'He's so quick to offer him to join his crew!', most people in the room thought, fairly astonished.

"Shishishi! As good as that might sound, the future Pirate King can't have a captain. But there are a few things I want to ask or tell you, Whitebeard-ossan."

'HE'S TALKING WITH FUCKING WHITEBEARD IN THAT TONE!'

"Gurarararara! You've got a big dream, brat. What do you want to ask me?"

"Uhhh,", Garp's grandson began, frowning, "where exactly do I begin? Ahh, right! First, Ace told me a dude called Blackbeard tried to kill a crewmate, then defected. How's that crewmate doing right now?"

The Yonko's face turned very serious. "His life is out of danger, but he still can't stand up for now. Can I ask you for a favor? If you see Blackbeard, could you call us and tell us his exact position? We'd be really grateful for that."

Just as Whitebeard's, Luffy's face turned serious too. "Alright, I'll do it."

"Thank you very much. It's the Whitebeard Pirates' duty to deal with each other."

"I understand. So, second, I wanted to thank you for giving Ace and Sabo a family."

Newgate started laughing, happy about his decision one year ago. "Gurararara! No need to thank me, brat. I looked at these brats and knew where they belong. They are my sons now, no need to worry."

The strawhat's overall expression brightened. "I bet they're happy with you now. You know, when Ace and I met first, he was really nasty. He outright hated me, spat at me and even tried to kill me. Sabo's been much better, but he wasn't that nice to me either when we first met. Eventually, after some events in a surprisingly short time, we became irreplaceable siblings and were closer to each other than any family by blood. Once again, thank you for giving them a family, something we three lacked in our respective childhoods."

Vivi and all other Straw Hats were deeply shocked, judging by their faces and drops of sweat. 'Ace tried to kill our Luffy?! How is that possible, he seemed so nice, and mature, and polite… I don't get it.'

"I see.", the captain of the Whitebeard Pirates calmly replied. "Your gratitude towards me must be great. Is there anything else?"

"Yes. Do you have the number of Shanks?"

"That Red-Haired brat?!", the gigantic human repeated, not extremely fond of his fellow Yonko. "What do you know about him."

'He's calling Red-Haired Shanks a brat, incredible!'

"I know him from my childhood. Before I met Ace, he lived in my home village for a year. The straw hat I'm wearing was his parting gift before he left. He told me to give it back to him once I become a great pirate."

Whitebeard could really say he was surprised. For years he'd been wondering what happened to the brat's hat. And now he got his answer. "Fine, I'm gonna tell you his number. Listen, it's …"

…

"Thank you for everything, Whitebeard-ossan! Hear you next time!"

"Hear you next time too, brat! ***Clank*** "

"How did you like my first talk to Whitebeard-ossan?", the new Super Rookie asked his nakama, smiling wide and childishly.

 ***Thump!***

"Vivi?!", Nami exclaimed, staring at her passed out friend in disbelief. It seemed like the sensible bluenette passed out due to the too high level of badassery of her former captain.

"Wow.", Zoro quietly muttered, totally bewildered by his captain. "I've never seen someone fall unconscious due to sheer badassery…"

…

At least 30 minutes later, a servant from the Royal Castle rushed into the room the Straw Hats and Princess Vivi were staying with his own Den Den Mushi. "Straw Hats, Vivi-sama! Someone's calling!"

"Give me that.", the pirate captain said, stretching out his arm to pull over the snail phone to him. "Biribiribiribiribiri! Biribiribiribiribir- ***Clank*** "

"Hello? It's me! Gaaaaahahahahahaha!", Bon Kurei exclaimed, acting like a true friend of the Straw Hats.

"Oh it's you.", Dragon's son spoke, not impressed or anything. "What do you want, Mr. 2?"

"You're strong, Strawhat! I was impressed.", the okama told with a friendly and extremely goofy voice. "And don't call me Mr. 2, if this signal is caught by the Marines, I'll be in trouble."

"You just said it yourself, idiot!", the short reindeer yelled at him with sharp teeth.

"Just tell us what you want.", the swordsman pressed, not thinking very much of the former Baroque agent.

"Oh yeah, I took your ship."

"WHAAAAT?!"

The sniper got angry at this and proceeded to speak to the crossdresser himself. "This isn't funny you jerk, where are you now?!"

"On your ship.", Bentham answered.

"ISN'T THAT OBVIOUS?!"

"No, no, you got that wrong!", the future prisoner of Impel Down tried to cool down the situation. "Gee… We're friends, right? Gaahahahahaha! Gaahahahahaha!"

"Nope, we're not.", the leg fighter who'd beaten him before denied, annoyed.

"Listen, Alabasta's waters are full of Marine ships trying to find and arrest you guys. I'm currently on the northest point of the Sandora river. Meet me there at three in the morning and we can escape together, like friends."

Him having said that, a big smile appeared in Luffy's face. "You're right!", he cheerfully called. "Let's escape together like friends! We are that already, so why not?"

"That's what I'm saying, Strawhat-chan! Gaaahahahaha! Gaaahahahahaha! ***Clank*** "

After the conversation between friends finished, the teenager in charge of the pirate crew turned serious again. "You've heard Bon-chan, let's escape together!"

"Bon-chan?!", the other males questioned, slightly disgusted and confused at the same time.

"Right.", the navigator spoke, a little insecure. "But how do we get there in the first place?"

"I can help with that!", the bluenette suggested, wanting to help her friends. "The Super Spot-Billed Duck Squad can get you there in less than an hour."

Chopper had something in mind and decided to speak it out. "Vivi, you're a princess and all, but are you coming with us?"

"What?!", the blue-haired let out, slightly sweating. She wasn't ready for that question and never thought of the answer.

"I- uhm, uhhhh-"

"Don't sweat it!", the future Pirate King called out, making the royal twitch. "If you want to come with us, we'll wait for you at the eastern coast of Alabasta for 12 hours. It's your decision."

The 16-year-old sweat slightly less. "O- ok- okay, I'll think about it. As for you, you have to get your ship back. Let's get going."

…

"GOODBYE FOR NOW, VIVI!", the Straw Hats shouted, bidding farewell to their ex-nakama for now. Maybe, she would become one again, along her loyal duck Carue of course.

After just a little less than one hour, the quite small pirate crew arrived at the place their friend, which both Sanji and Zoro denied he wasn't, had told them to meet him.

"Gaahahahahaha! Hello friends, long time no see!"

"Oi, what were you doing on our ship?", Usopp angrily roared, sensitive about his love's present, the Going Merry.

"Protecting it of course!", the queer proudly stated, pointing at himself with his thumb. "The Marines would've taken it if I didn't look after it."

The sharpshooter's eyes widened and his heart beat faster. "You, you really did that for us?"

"Of course, that's what friends are there for."

Yasopp's son's eyes got watery in gratitude. Their former enemy has been protecting Merry while he and his nakama were gone, a true act of friendship.

"Bon-chan, thanks for protecting Merry!", the markman cried out, grabbing the rubber man and reindeer-human hybrid to perform a shoulder-to-shoulder dance like last time with their friend Bentham.

"No problem, Long-Nose-chan! Now let's have fun like real friends."

Everyone else, the mosshead, love-cook and money lover, sighed at the quartet's idiot dance. "What a real idiot dance…"

"We agree."

…

One day later, around three pm, about 10 minutes before Marine ships approached, Vivi did make it to the eastern coast of Alabasta. The princess has had a sleepless night due to her constantly thinking about whether to continue sailing with her friends or follow her duties as a nation's princess. In the end, she decided to stay, thinking her being part of the future Pirate King's crew might endanger her people's safety, even if she did step down.

"GUYS!", the beautifully dressed girl yelled at the ship 500 meters away from the rocky shore. "I'M SO SORRY BUT I HAVE TO STAY. MY COUNTRY AND FAMILY NEED ME, I LOVE THEM TOO MUCH TO LEAVE. PLEASE, CONTINUE YOUR JOURNEY AND FULFILL YOUR DREAMS!"

Kind of disappointed but understanding, her former nakama nodded, sailing away with their "X" mark visible to the part-time pirate. That mark had formerly been a proof of their nakamaship to distinguish themselves from imitators.

Speaking of imitators, Bon Kurei and his own nakama were waiting for the Straw Hats a bit further off the desert island. The okama wanted to open his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by one of his men before even letting out a breath. "Bon Kurei-sama, 5 Marine ships are approaching, and- OH NO!"

"Huh?", the former Mr. 2 asked, looking at his shivering subordinate looking through binoculars in a puzzled manner. "Why are you shaking?"

"IT'S BLACK CAGE HINA!", the man yelled in disbelief, making his crew run around in fear.

"OH SHIT, WE'RE DOOMED!"

The Imitating Human glanced at his crewmates for some seconds then turned to his friends coming closer with their own ship.

"Go away!", the crossdresser shouted at the Straw Hat Pirates. "It's Black Cage Hina!"

"So what?!", the darker-skinned boy asked, not intimidated by the Marine Captain's name. "We can take her, right?"

Bentham turned very serious, far more serious than in his fight with the ero-cook. "Listen to me.", he spoke in an ordering tone. "As friends, we'll hold them off. You go before they catch you."

A black steal beam from afar was shot out of Hina's personal ship and hit the swan man's ship. Many others followed.

"I told you, you can't stay. Go away, we'll hold them off."

"But Bon-chan!", the strawhat interjected, puddles of tears in his eyes "If we let you here, you'll get imprisoned."

"I don't want you get imprisoned!", the short Zoan user cried, crying equally.

Bon-chan was the third to cry. "As painful as it is, even friends have to say goodbye. Now goooooooo!"

As the Marine ships were coming closer and closer, Nami started giving orders. "You've heard him! Let's get out of here, right now!"

"Bon-chan…"

Usopp was crying too.

As much as the 17-year-old didn't want to leave his friend behind, he had to do it. The safety of his nakama was the most important thing in his life after never wanting to lose anyone again. And Bon-chan would help him in Impel Down later.

Sobbing, the tallest Straw Hat decided to do as his navigator said. "We're getting out of here!"

The six young pirates sailed further and further away from the battlefield, where multiple ships, including the former Baroque agent's, were burning.

"I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU, MY FRIEND!"

…

Many minutes and teardrops later, there was no trace of anything out on the big sea. The Straw Hat Pirates were safe for now from any enemy force.

"We've shaken them off, isn't that a reason to be happy?", Zoro asked with a content face, holding a mug of sake. However, everyone on deck except him and the captain had a sad face.

"We miss her already!", they whined, implying the regret of their former nakama's absence.

"Stop it with these whiny faces!", the green-haired growled with sharp teeth. "If you wanted her to stay with us so bad, you should have taken her by force!"

Mad at the moss-haired, the four whining pirates started calling him names. The tanned 19-year-old immediately regrettet having said that.

"Ahh! You're such a savage!"

"You're the worst!"

"Marimo!"

"Meathead!"

Another voice joined the conversation. "Looks like we've finally made it off the island."

"Yeah.", Zoro muttered indifferently, not paying attention at first.

Upon closer look, he realized the voice came from a familiar slender raven-haired woman who'd been hiding on the ship. Not only that, he also spat out his sake.

"Y-"

His reaction was short lived as the four who'd been complaining earlier started screaming. "Whaaaaaaaat?!"

The former second-in-command of Baroque works, Miss All-Sunday was standing on their ship.

* * *

 **Yesss, the Alabasta Saga is finished now! My fourth favourite Saga is over. I have come a long way as a new writer, don't you think so? I keep writing thanks to your support. Carry on! And of course, Nico Robin, my third favourite Straw Hat is now on the Merry (although not a member – yet!). I have big plans for her, and a pairing between her and Luffy was already announced when I started writing my fanfic via the summary. I know, the age difference is nasty, but that'll change later, just wait for it. The primary reason for that is Luffy's abnormal intelligence, making him compatible with her. Anyways, have a good day! Constructive criticism allowed. Rate and review if you like.**


	17. C17: Trust, Dislike, and outright HATE

**Never again!**

 **With Alabasta finished, the awesome Sky Island Saga begins! In this chapter, the Straw Hats will learn to trust the new nakama, and Luffy himself will meet someone he absolutely HATES! This chapter is gonna be a little longer since it'll cover all of the Jaya Arc.**

 **Answer to chimera629: Could you please be a bit more clear in your replies, some parts of them are a little hard to understand. And I also can't answer all your questions at the same time, so why don't you ask me your questions one by one? Thanks.**

 **Answer to Guest: The interview is a new thing I added, it wasn't canon. And also thanks.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**

 **Chapter 17: Trust, Dislike, and outright HATE**

* * *

"Here to avenge your organization?! I'll take you on!", Zoro exclaimed, pointing at her with all three of his swords. Nami did the same with her Clima Tact.

"Get off the ship, I repeat, get off the ship.", Usopp spoke through his megaphone in a quiet and depressed way.

Chopper hid behind Luffy, who stared at both Nico Robin and Sanji who was trying to flirt with her.

Due to being former enemies, the first reaction of the non-captain and non-cook Straw Hats towards her was hostile and mistrustful.

"Don't point such dangerous objects at me.", the woman said, throwing the long fighting objects out of metal on the ground with her Hana Hana powers.

The navigator, slightly calmed down, realized she couldn't win against the raven-haired with weapons, so she proceeded to oral violence. "Why are you here, _Baroque works_?! How long have you been on this ship?"

"All the time…", the 2nd female on Merry answered, no expression on her face.

"Just why are you here?", the first mate hissed in a demanding way.

"I'm here for Monkey D. Luffy to take responsibility for what he did to me. What he did was truly unbearable."

By that time, the blond got out of his loving state and started shaking his captain wildly after grabbing the rubber man by his neck. "Luffy! What'd you do to that beautiful lady, you bastard?!"

Unaffected by the ero-cook's 'avenging the beautiful', the strawhat sarcastically asked his soon-to-be nakama what his crime was. "Explain what I did you say was unbearable."

"You made me live when I wanted to die. That's your crime.", the Oharan told him with a slightly content expression. "And to make up for it, you'll have to let me join your crew. There's no place for me to go or go back to. So let me stay on this ship."

Silence for two and a half seconds. "Oh, I see.", the wanted man muttered, thoughtful yet clear. "Then I guess we have no choice. From now on, you're part of the Straw Hat Pirates and our nakama. Feel well on Going Merry."

"LUFFY!", some of his other nakama yelled, not agreeing with the 17-year-old's decision.

"Mellorine~, Mellorine~", the only other Straw Hat immediately accepting her sung, his eyes formed to pink hearts.

Expecting this outcome, the pirate captain turned around to those disagreeing with him in hope of changing their minds. "Don't worry, she isn't a bad person."

"How can you say she's not a bad person?!", the ginger snapped at him in disbelief. "Remember, she was Baroque works' number two!"

"Y-yeah, and the partner of Crocodile!", the long-nosed added in fear.

Inwardly facepalming, the 160 Million Berry man possessing great patience made another suggestion to the ones refusing to accept Nico Robin as their new nakama. "Do you want absolute proof she's not evil? Zoro, you know how to use Observation haki, right?"

The tanned green-haired raised an eyebrow, not understanding what haki has to do with her not being evil. "Yes, but could you tell me what this has to do with that?"

"Easy.", the laid-back pirate captain answered. "Close your eyes and look at her aura. Tell us whether her aura emits evil or good energy."

"Fine.", the loyal swordsman complied, closing his eyes to use his power. To his surprise, the good energy easily outweighted the evil energy by at least 9 to 1 out of 10.

"Guys.", he spoke up, sweating in disbelief. "Believe it or not, the ridiculous amount of good and innocent energy makes it look like there is no evil energy inside of her."

Usopp, Nami and Chopper gasped for air, as if someone's been robbing their oxygen. The shock hit them like a colossal battleship.

Giggling first, the mysterious woman stood up, walking towards the coward trio and the mosshead. "You can ask me questions if you like, maybe that'll help you about me."

The gifted sniper gulped first, then stepped forward two times. "Okay.", he spoke, confident about himself. "I'll do it."

…

After about 15 minutes, the sharpshooter set up an interrogation table to ask some things about his new nakama. They were both already sitting, and he asked his first question.

"My name is Usopp, what's yours?"

"Nico Robin.", the slender woman said, entertaining the reindeer with her devil fruit powers.

"Okay then, Nico Robin, what's your occupation?"

"An archaeologist."

"An archaeologist?!", the 17-year-old almost yelled out, impressed.

"I come from a long line of archaeologists."

"Hmm… I see… That kind of family, huh?"

Meanwhile, Zoro was secretly observing the interrogation from behind the mast, thinking 'What the hell…?'. He didn't quite trust the tall woman, thinking she acted way too innocent to be trusted.

"And?", the black-haired continued, now curious about her.

"I became an archaeologist, and then a wanted criminal. That was, when I was eight. Since then, I've spent the past 20 years hiding from the world."

"Since you were eight…? By yourself all this time?", the darker-skinned asked, not thinking that could be true.

"But then, there was no way for a child to be able to survive alone on the sea. So in the end, in order to protect myself and achieve my goal, I've chosen to follow various rogues. So that's how it was."

"Does that mean Crocodile was just another rogue to you?"

"Yeah, I guess… in order to get closer to the Rio Poneglyph."

"Rio…?", the liar asked, not knowing anything about Poneglyphs. For him, it just seemed like something else he can't understand, just like haki when Luffy first mentioned it.

"Thanks to that, I've become good at doing things behind the scenes. I'm sure I'll be able to help you guys too."

"Oh…? You're full of confidence. What're you good at?"

The former Oharan scholar and Baroque agent leaned forward, her right cheek resting in her right hand. "Assasination."

Comedic effect-like, Usopp rapidly leaned back, his head pointing backwards. "Luffy! This investigation has concluded that she's too dangerous!", the coward let out, crying and having a mental breakdown.

Luffy, the one he addressed, burst out in laughter, needing 50 seconds to recover. "You're funny, Usopp! Robin won't assasinate us when she's on our side!"

This was, when the orange-haired's patience wore thin and she walked out of her secret listening spot. "Seriously… Being so gullible… How pathetic! She was the vice president of a crime syndicate until just recently. How are we gonna let such a woman join us?"

Despite being serious as hell, Nami's tone was rather calm and mocking. The Conomi Islander hadn't raised her voice towards her captain for a very long time, and still hadn't. "You won't deceive me that easily. If you pull any weird stunts, I'll kick you out!"

Completely unfazed, but not unfriendly or anything like that at all, Robin made a remark to the money-loving girl's statement. "Okay, I'll keep that in mind."

Pulling out a little brown sack, she changed the topic in favor of the 18-year-old. "I just remembered… I brought some of Crocodile's jewelry with me…". Her voice was sounding innocent, but everyone except the navigator, cook and doctor knew the clever archaeologist was faking that.

Upon hearing 'jewelry', the girl's eyes turned to sparkling stars. "Wow! I love you, sister!"

Zoro and Usopp observed the whole scene and pointed out the fact that the ex-scholar was a master of deception.

"Nami's been suckered."

"That's an evil trick."

"She's completely following that woman's lead."

Their small chat was interrupted by the arrival of the perverted leg fighter, who was sliding down the railing of Merry's stairs with a piece of chocolate cake made for the newest nakama. As he arrived on the main level of the deck, the fighting cook immediately raved about love stuff, handing the tanned woman his newly-made cake.

"And his reaction is no surprise.", the swordsman continued.

"Yeah, we just have to consider he was a lost cause from the start."

Back with Robin and Sanji:

"Should I call you 'Robin-chan'? Or should it be 'Robin-san'?"

Having no response to that, yet still bearing a happy expression, the 28-year-old emerged from her seat, making her way to the figurehead of Merry, where the captain was standing. The raven-haired had to discuss some things with her savior, who was too intelligent for his age in her opinion.

While walking away, the Buster Call survivor overheard the ex-prince raving about her charm and beauty. Any normal person, man or woman, would've slapped the blond at that point, but being that patient, she just let the sometimes idiotic chef say whatever he wanted to say.

"Excuse me."

The so far youngest D. turned his head to the passionate reader, who'd approached the most wanted man's only son. "Oh, what's the matter?"

"Tell me, why did you trust me immediately, when almost everyone else reacted in a hostile manner to me. It doesn't make that much sense for me, Captain-san.", the thoughtful woman wanted to know. Nobody else except the young moss-haired vice-captain who was standing 15 meters away from the pair listened, therefore the highly intelligent woman with a tragic past talked to her captain honestly and in a way only intellectually grown-up people would talk.

Luffy fully understood his archaeologist, so the 17-year-old fully responded like he really would, in his true, own way. "I saw through your soul. You're a broken person in need of friends and family. Many people have had a sad past, me included. I accepted you without hesitation because I can relate to you. Trust me, nobody should be alone."

What the straw-hatted teen said was so correct in her eyes. Hearing that response, the Paramecia user's eyes turned shiny, but not watery.

"As for the others,", the pirate captain continued, "they'll learn to trust and accept you soon enough, don't worry that much about that."

"Captain-san…", Robin murmured, emotionally touched and the surface of her blue eyes now wet. It had been a long time since someone truly trusted and accepted the 79 Million Berry woman.

"Oh, and you don't have to add -san at the end of our occupations, our very names are enough."

With that, the boy wearing his captain's coat made his way to the galley in order to have lunch.

After the black-haired was far enough away, the swordsman approached the 9-year-older woman to speak to her about something. In a way, he could definitely tell his second best friend and captain wasn't wrong, but on the other hand, he didn't trust his new nakama that much.

"Let me be clear.", Roronoa Zoro spoke. "If Luffy accepts you, I'm gonna accept you too. That doesn't mean I'll be trusting you from the beginning. Do something for our crew, your nakama, and maybe then I'll trust you."

"Sounds good to me.", the Oharan responded, now slightly smiling. "I promise, I will fight for us when I have to. I also promise I'll never harm any of you."

The wary first mate's instincts were good compared to the instincts of others. In his mind, he let her words sink in and decided the tall woman's promises were serious. The only thing she had to do was to prove it.

"Good. You better not mess up if you want to gain MY trust.", the green-haired said, following the rubber man. That shitty cook might be shitty, but at least he was a good cook.

Nico Robin smiled. She smiled after being left alone. Despite not thinking to be able to see through one's soul or see if one's aura emits good or evil energy, the raven-haired could see her new friends, which the skilled assassin also calls nakama, were a bunch of good-hearted people.

'I think too much about things that are not true, but I know one thing that is true: I made the right decision being with them.', the 28-year-old thought, determined to do her best for her crew.

Immediately after that, the tanned ex-scholar made her way to the dining room to eat and have fun with the seemingly eternal good-mooded pirate crew she was part of. Little did she know she'd gain the trust of her nakama in such a short period of time.

…

3 days later, Robin gained the absolute full trust of pretty much everyone except Zoro, who still had 1 or 2% doubt in her. In those three days, a lot had happened, like Ruluka Island becoming Straw Hat territory. With the help of lots of personal conversations, assisting her crew's doings and even fighting together, Nami, Chopper, Usopp and even Zoro saw the former Baroque agent as one of their own, and a pretty useful one at that.

Last point proved itself when the archaeologist was shown to be skilled in analyzing a corpse that fell down on Merry next to a ravaged galleon, which created a wave upon impact with the sea so big, Going Merry almost toppled over.

"I see.", the Buster Call survivor said, her eyes fixed on the skeleton. "See those holes in his head? They are man-made."

She turned her head to Chopper, who was still hiding behind the mast due to being scared of corpses. "This is craterization, right, Doctor-kun?"

The reindeer nodded, amazed by her medical knowledge. "Yeah, in the past, they made holes in the skull in order to constrain a brain tumor. But that's a medical technique from very long ago."

"That's right. It's been at least 200 years since he died.", the joint most intelligent Straw Hat observed. "He was in his early thirties. He fell sick while travelling the sea and died. The reason his teeth remained in good condition compared to his other bones is because tar was rubbed onto them. This custom is characteristic of some areas in the South Blue. So considering history, that was a ship for an exploration party from the past."

"Here it is. The 'St. Briss' of Briss, a kingdom in the South Blue.", the Oharan informed, opening a new page in the information book which also fell on the main deck. "It set sail 208 years ago. This ship probably wandered in the sky for at least 200 years."

Unexpectedly, Luffy began clapping his hands rapidly. "Wow Robin, you're so smart. We couldn't have found out that much about this ship and that corpse without your help."

Agreeing with Garp's grandson, everyone else except the swordsman and the sniper clapped their hands too. The former thought he was to cool for such a commotion, while the latter was too scared of the calm woman's knowledge of such scary things as corpses with holes.

"Woww, Robin-chwan, you're so smart and beautiful!", the lady-loving cook raved, hearts in his eyes.

"He's right Robin, you're amazing!", the navigator exclaimed.

"You know much about medicine, are you a doctor too? Maybe we can work together.", the reindeer-human hybrid called, curious, cheerful and somewhat pushy, just like a child.

"Tch, I'm too cool for such praise.", the first mate muttered under his breath, looking at the opposite direction.

"R- Robin's scary!", the sharpshooter whined, sweating and trembling in fear.

As the ginger finished her praising, she shortly glanced at her Log Pose, before wanting to go back to the rudder. Despite the glance lasting only a fraction of a second, the orange-haired noticed the needle pointing upwards, right in the sky.

"Guys.", the 18-year-old spoke up, pointing at her Log Pose. "Look at the needle, it's pointing all the way up to the sky. I think it's broken."

Hearing that, Dragon's son shook his head, correcting his navigator. "You yourself said a Log Pose adjusts to the magnetic field of an island, right?"

Nami looked at him confused. "Right, but-"

"That means, there is an island in the sky. Have you ever heard of Sky Island? The Log Pose is telling us to go there."

Not believing in Sky Island, Zoro openly disagreed with his captain. "Whoah whoah whoah, an island in the sky? Where? Look at the sky and tell me where an island or cloud big enough to fit an island is."

Expecting something like this, the 17-year-old sighed at the green-haired in slight annoyance, lecturing him about believing in things later on. "Zoro, we are followers of dreams, right? Did someone actually debunk the myth of Sky Island's existence? Believe in it, just like I do."

The vice-captain looked at the future Pirate King for a few seconds, then sighed as some kind of an apology. He knew the rubber man was right about dreams and he also knew he himself should've known better.

"Listen up everyone!", the boy dressed in red called out, getting everyone's attention. "This ship over there is going to sink soon, so some of us should go over there and retrieve as much helpful stuff as they can, alright? That ship fell out of the sky, there must be some things linked to Sky Island."

All other Straw Hats agreed, hatching a plan to salvage the galleon. Luffy, as smart as he was, came up with a plan immediately. "In case that ship's going to sink, the ones going should wear a diving suit, since there might be sea monsters in the water. Meanwhile, the others will provide the salvagers with fresh air and pull them up once they're finished. How does that sound to you?"

"I like this.", Robin honestly said, the others following with a nod.

"But who'll be going?", Sanji asked, puffing out a small cloud of smoke.

"Anyone volunteering?", Nami and Usopp asked at the same time, hiding in the background, not wanting to go themselves.

"I'll go.", the mosshead declared, annoyed of his two nakama's 'weak' fear.

"I'm following you.", the fighting cook announced, hoping to get attention from the ship's ladies for his bravery.

"If nobody's going to volunteer, then I'll be going.", the King's haki user told.

After nobody volunteered as the third salvager for 14 seconds, the captain himself decided to go.

"Prepare our dive, we three are going."

…

15 minutes later, three diving suits for the diving Straw Hats were made out of barrels. The trio was let down by a very long rope with devices supplying them with air attached to them.

"Nami-san, I'll be sure to find a clue to the sky!", the leg fighter promised, before disappearing in the water.

"I'm counting on you!", she replied, clearly using him.

With that, the three jumped into the deep sea hoping to find things related to Sky Island.

Not long after the jump, a report from Zoro reached Merry. "Oi! We're okay, but there's a nest of giant sea snakes down here!"

"Phew… I'm glad I didn't go.", the marksman commented, wiping the sweat off his face.

Suddenly, a huge salvage ship with a monkey with cymbals as the figurehead approached the Going Merry, with noise coming from the people on deck. "Salvage, salvage! Salvage, salvage! Salvage, salvage! …!"

The long-nosed zoomed in with his sniper goggles to see what exactly was going on on that ship. "What the heck is that?"

As the salvagers came closer, the remaining Straw Hats other than the darker-skinned boy also noticed them all playing with cymbals and their boss making the biggest noise with his whistle.

Speaking of the boss, the large ape-like man introduced himself to the adventuring pirates once he came close enough to them, although not in a friendly manner. "Hey you! What're you guys doing here? This is my turf, the turf of Masira, captain of the Masira Pirates!"

"Your turf?!", the navigator questioned, slightly irritated.

"That's right!", Masira proudly answered. "Every ship that sinks in this territory belongs to me, Masira the Salvage King. You haven't touched anything that's mine, have you, huh?!"

"Looks like he's going to salvage the ship.", the raven-haired stated, unable for the other pirate crew to hear.

"That's what it sounds like.", the liar mumbled, ignoring the ape man.

"Then what? Doesn't this work for us?"

Masira got angry when he realized he was being ignored, and subsequently shouted at the small group of pirates. "Quit mumbling! Answer my question!"

Nami, not scared of the brown and furred man at all, shouted at the salvager in return. "Excuse me! Can I ask you a question?!"

Unexpectedly, the salvager pirate turned goofy and allowed the girl to ask him a question. "You're asking me a question?! That's fine, ask me anything!"

"It looks like you're going to salvage the ship. Is that right?"

"Looks?", the large man chuckled, suddenly changing the topic. "Hey… Do you find me that 'monkeyful'?"

"Monkeyful?!"

"That means handsome. Do you think I am?"

Quickly sweatdropping, the ginger lied. "Yeah!"

Masira, thinking she really meant it, got flattered and blushed, despite already having red permanently blushed cheeks. "Oh, come on, stop it!"

"But there isn't such a word, is there?", Usopp muttered, sweatdropping just like his younger female nakama. "So, are you gonna salvage it?"

"Of course!", the monkey-like man replied, now proud again. "If there's a sunken ship in front of me, I'll salvage it. If it's on the water, I'll sink it and salvage it. I'm that kind of a man! There's no ship we can't salvage!"

Suddenly, some of Masira's men were thrown out of the water, badly injured. All Masira Pirates were shocked by this. "Boss, there's trouble! The members who went into the sea to set the cradle look like they were beaten up by someone!"

"What?! Are you saying there's someone down there in the sea?", the ship's best salvager exclaimed, turning around.

"This isn't good.", Yasopp's son muttered, who, just like the other Straw Hats, heared the whole thing.

Infuriated, the brown man turned to the pirates in the smaller ship carrying a menacing epression on his face. "Hey! You guys! …"

Both the orange-haired and the curly black-haired panicked, waving with their hands as a sign of peace and surrender. "Ah, well…"

"… There's someone in the sea! Be careful!"

"Eh, okay!"

'Good thing he's an idiot.', the cowardly sniper thought, dropping some last drops of sweat.

…

Deeper down, the Monster Trio reached the wreck of the St. Briss. It was their mission to find objects related to Sky Island, and they were serious about it, really wanting to go to the legendary Sky Island.

"Yosh! Let's start searching, Sky Island is waiting!"

"Agreed.", the third and second strongest Straw Hats said, splitting up.

Luffy explored the middle part of the galleon, Sanji the left part and Zoro the right part. During his search, the strawhat found two things linked to Skypiea and Upper Yard, a map of Skypiea and an old, broken waver.

'Nami will be happy about this.', he thought, continuing his search.

…

5 minutes later, the three gathered at the place Sanji was searching. The blond didn't find that much, just some treasure and beautiful shells he'd give to his favourite orange-haired in exchange for attention. The green-haired had also found something, but that was only a live octopus attached to his diving suit's head part. Previously, the swordsman also found some old swords, but they shattered immediately after being pulled out of their sheath, which seriously annoyed the 19-year-old.

"And, have you guys found something related to Sky Island? I did.", the rubber man informed them, making the often arguing duo feel slightly disappointed not to have found something they've looked for.

All of a sudden, the ship violently trembled, greatly surprising the three inside. In truth, the cradle which the Masira Pirates would use to lift the shipwreck up, was merely set, nothing else. The three were even more surprised when a massive amount of air was blown into the ship, creating a huge bubble on the inside. Now that they had enough air, the temporary salvagers decided to take off their diving suits.

"We don't need these barrels anymore.", the 17-year-old said, stretching out his arms at the feeling of being free, free of that tight diving suit.

"It's amazing they pumped in this much air.", the Vinsmoke spoke, thinking it was their crew who did that.

One sudden thing after another. An unknown force shattered the already fragile walls of the wrecked galleon with a punch. Once it was revealed who that force was, a large brown ape-like man with a permanent blush wearing an orange jumpsuit with a pikachu logo on it, that 'force' started yelling at the normal humans. "Who the hell are you, invading my turf?!"

The black-haired, as well as his two nakama, stared at the angry monkey man in disbelief. "A monkey? What's a monkey doing here?"

Just like before, the large, furred man turned goofy, blushing, although that was difficult to see due to his permanent blush. "What? Am I that monkeyful?"

"Monkeyful?!", the ex-prince and the future Pirate King's right hand exclaimed, their eyes bulging out, wondering who could've made up such a stupid word.

"'Monkeyful' means handsome, do you find me that?"

"No!"

A short and simple response like that was able to break Masira's spirit and turn him emo for a few seconds. Nevertheless, he got up like a man and turned serious again. "So, what are you doing on this ship?"

"We're salvaging it.", the strawhat responded, not thinking of any consequences.

The very animalistic human turned angry again, yelling at the adventurous pirates. "Salvaging? Hell no, I'm gonna salvage it!"

Zoro drew a blade, Sanji got in his fighting stance, but their captain stayed calm. They weren't really going to salvage the ship and a fight would be unneccessary, so the boy walked up to the ape-like man and glared at him in a non-threatening way. "Calm down, we're only taking the parts linked to Sky Island, not the whole ship or anything. If you want the ship so bad, have it, we don't care."

That caught Masira's attention, who didn't furiously look at the Straw Hats anymore. They'd actually make him curious. "Sky Island you say?"

Sighing in annoyance, the swordsman also walked up to the salvager pirate in order to berate him. "Look, you're free not to believe in Sky Island, you can also laugh at us but you won't be able to convince us Sky Island doesn't exist."

"Yeah!", Zeff's adoptive son added, sharply disagreeing with the Jaya-based pirate. "We believe in Sky Island, going there is our dream. Something one will never manage to accomplish is stopping us from dreaming. You get that, shitty monkey?"

It was the brown furred man who stepped backwards after that exchange of words. Sweating, he held his hands in front of him as a sign of peace and surrender. "No no, I won't laugh at you for believing in Sky Island. It's actually quite the reverse! I believe in Sky Island too! Have your stuff, I'm letting you. Oh, and I know someone who might tell you something about the legendary Sky Island! Do you want me to get you to him? I think he'll be happy to see someone believing in the same thing as him."

'That someone must be Cricket-ossan.', the 160 Million Berry man thought. "Yeah, okay, show us the way."

"Fine.", the really talkactive man said, bowing down. "My name is Masira by the way, nice to meet you. It's an honor."

Garp's grandson returned the honor by stretching out his hand. "Monkey D. Luffy, future Pirate King. Nice to meet you too."

"I'm Zoro."

"Sanji here."

The introductions were short-lived, as the four pirates literally felt the galleon wildly shaking, them with it. Outside, a humongous sea turtle with razor-sharp teeth was chewing on St. Briss' brittle wood while surfacing, almost making the bubble burst.

"Quick, get inside your diving suits!"

"But I don't have a diving suit!"

"YOUR FAULT, SHITTY APE!"

…

Although the ones inside the now fully wrecked exploration ship from South Blue didn't die, both the Masira Pirates and almost all Straw Hats have been going crazy. Mainly due to the fact an astronomically gigantic sea monster showed up right beside them.

"AAAAAAH, TELL ME I'M DREAMING!", Usopp hysterically screamed, running around, his eyes covered by his darker-skinned hands.

"No, this isn't a dream!", Chopper in Heavy Point shouted, accepting the scary reality, running around just like his friend.

While the two cowardly males were running up and down the deck, the female coward just sat down in a depressed manner, a blue, sad aura formed over her head. "This isn't happening, this isn't happening…"

Robin on the other hand still bore her calm expression on her face. "Maybe they've been eaten by-"

"Don't speak it out!", the sniper yelled at the archaeologist, comical sad tears running down his eyes. The sharpshooter was easily frightened by the mostly phlegmatic woman's theories regarding the worst.

A short time passed, and while no one was watching, the sky turned dark, with no signs of rain. It almost looked like it was late in the night. The Straw Hats, including Robin, were surprised, some shocked, some even scared.

"I-it turned night?!", the reindeer exclaimed, his eyes widened from surprise.

"Can't be! It's not that late yet!", the ginger stated, sweating while looking at her pocket watch. She did admit weather and time were strange on the Grand Line, but that was the fastest change of scenery as far as she recorded.

"Then what is it?! LUFFY! ZORO! SANJI!", the long-nosed cried out from the deepest regions of his throat, seriously concerned of his nakama that'd risked their lives for some Sky Island things.

The raven-haired was concerned too, looking around quickly, still keeping her calm demeanor. She REALLY didn't want the three to die. Her concern went so far, drops of sweat were visible on her face. "Captain-san…, Swordsman-san…, Cook-s-"

Her silent whispers were interrupted by a barrel with legs falling onto Merry's deck, a white bag attached to it, two other men carrying big bags following. Luffy, Zoro, Sanji.

"Sait sail! Hurry up and get out of here!", the first mate ordered, clear liquid running down his body. The others were not sure whether this liquid was sweat or seawater, but something like that didn't matter to them at that moment.

"Thank god you're alive!", the cowardly trio loudly beamed in relief, the 28-year-old saying the exact same thing in her mind. "Now let's get away from that turtle!"

"I agree with you on that one.", the cook with his soaking wet suit said, shoving off parts of wood off his black suit. Being the best swimmer of the Straw Hat Pirates at that point, the blond could really say it was hard carrying a devil fruit user to the surface.

"Wait, Sanji, where are your and Zoro's diving suits?", the sharpshooter asked.

"One broke and the other one was stolen by that monkey. Luffy's one stayed intact, thank goodness, otherwise he may have drowned."

Suddenly, another figure jumped out of the water. The leg fighter looked at the person with fury in his eyes, knowing what he, the passionate salvager, had done.

"Yeehahahahaha! What nice diving suit! I wonder w-"

Masira was cut off by a powerful kick from the furious fighting cook, which shattered the wooden barrel immediately upon impact. The captain of the Masira Pirates was knocked on the wall of Merry's meeting room. "Shitty Baboon! What's wrong with you, eh?! Selfish prick…"

The animalistic man screamed up in pain. "OWWWWW! Hey, what was that for? It wasn't my fault!"

Shaking his head, Sanji looked at the navigator and marksman. "Man, this guy sure is trouble… at least he knows a guy who can tell us something about Sky Island. And speaking of Sky Island, look at what I've found, Nami-swaaaan!"

He grabbed the map Luffy found and showed it to the orange-haired, who gasped from happiness. The rubber man, who was on his feet again, proceeded to smack the perverted cook on his head, bearing a menacing look. "Brag about your own achievements, fool! Don't take credit for something you didn't find."

An argument was about to start, but the almost shrilling sounds the darker-skinned sniper, who turned blue out of fear, emitted, prompted everyone to turn around, only to make them see the strangest, possibly most terrifying thing they'd ever see in their lives.

"G-G-G-GAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Five extremely intimidating shadows dozens of times larger than above-average-sized giants were towering on the horizon. Nami dropped her map, Usopp almost fainted, Chopper looked like he awakened his rinnegan, Sanji dropped his unlit cigarette, Zoro grabbed onto the mast, Robin's mouth opened and Masira's face turned so blue, his permanent blush marks were practically invisible. Even the Sea King-sized turtle shivered in fear. Then there was Luffy, who did know the truth behind those shadows, but still dropped sweat since what he saw was undoubtedly an uncommon sight. And that was a heavy understatement.

Things only got worse when the biggest one of them, the middle one, raised his spear, which looked like he was aiming for the the onlookers. Without hesitation, the four male Straw Hats beside the captain grabbed the paddles to get out of there.

Judging by the speed Going Merry reached while escaping, one could say the Straw Hat sniper, doctor, chef and vice-captain possessed enough arm strenght to take down a beast. After all, those four paddled away at the speed of light – almost.

…

Calmness followed said incident, the calm after the storm, contrary to the calm before the storm. The sky was blue again, with the sun shining down on the small pirate ship. And the water itself was calm, very calm, almost as calm as the Calm Belt. It was, as some people might say, too calm, scary-level calm.

"Man, I hate calm.", the brown, furred man said, breathing out.

"You're not alone.". Realizing something, the fighting cook shot up from the ground where he was sitting, and turned to the monkey-like man, just like the rest of the Straw Hats. "Wait, what's he doing here?!"

Shaking his head, the strawhat calmed down the former royal. "Easy, Sanji. You might not be that fond of him after what he did, but we need him to meet that guy he told us about and also to get out of here. The Log Pose is pointing at the sky and not at an island, we can't possibly reach the next island without a Log Pose, can we?"

"Exactly!", Masira called out, jumping up on his feet, then searching something in his pocket. After the salvager pirate found what he wanted, he proudly presented it to the Straw Hats. "I always have an Eternal Pose to Jaya with me, my home island. So, shall we directly go to Old Man Cricket, or shall we stop at Mock Town before going to Old Man Cricket's place?"

Nami raised her hand. "Anyone for Mock Town?"

Pretty much everyone agreed on Mock Town after the ape-like man told them about the bars, shopping places, and other places pirates could go to.

"Yosh! We're heading to Mock Town!"

…

Around 30 minutes later, the Straw Hats and Masira arrived at Mock Town's harbor filled with pirate ships. But that was no surprise, since the Jaya town was well-known for being a pirate resort.

Not long before their arrival, Chopper, Usopp and Nami observed something strange. While Jaya wasn't even visible, three seagulls fell on deck. As the reindeer confirmed, the white birds were shot down. Everybody was surprised, barring the captain. 'Only Yasopp and Van Auger can do that… Blackbeard, that bastard is in town.'

During their arrival, while docking, the cowardly trio eyed something equally strange and frightening. A huge, muscular wrestling champion violently beat up a man begging for his life. "Help me, he's gonna kill me!"

"What's wrong with this town?!", they whined, tears running down their faces.

'Burgess, fucking Burgess… God, I hate this guy.', the 17-year-old thought, clenching his fists. He really wanted to beat up, or kill the Blackbeard Pirates. So much trouble would be avoided in the future.

"Oi!", the black-haired exclaimed, getting his nakama's attention. "I want to walk around, you guys are free to do whatever you want during our short stay. Masira, can you look after Merry while we're gone? That'd be nice of you."

"Hehehe, it's a pleasure. But I must warn you, there might be some shady figures in town, Mock Town is notorious for its pirate visitors."

'Shady? Good description of Teach and his idiot crew.'

"We also stay on the ship!", was the weakest three's response to that.

Rolling his eyes, the future Pirate King jumped off his ship. "Zoro, want to get a drink?"

"Sure thing.", Zoro answered, slowly walking down the stairs of Merry.

Carrying her usual smile, Robin also followed the two. "Captain-san, do you mind me going shopping for a while?"

The 160 Million Berry man turned his head towards her, giving the raven-haired a light smirk. "Do as you please, you have as much freedom as I have."

Trailing behind the tall beauty, the love-cook raved things about love, hearts in his eyes. "I'll follow and protect you, my dear Robin-chwaaan!"

"See you later, Robin and Sanji."

"See you too, Captain-san."

…

A few alleys later, the rubber man and the swordsman encountered an old frail man on an equally frail horse. The sickly old man turned towards the young pirates with a vicious grin, holding a basket full of red fruits in his hands. "Would you like some apples?"

'Doc Q. I never liked him, still don't. Actually, I hate the guts of him, I can't stand even looking at him! What a sick piece of shit… Totally fitting Blackbeard's crew.'

Suddenly, a grey building right next to them exploded, the people inside probably dying from the fire.

"What has happened?!", a townsman asked, panicked due to the sudden inferno devouring the small tavern.

"Apparently, some guys were eating apples they got from a strange man, and then they exploded. Five of them!", another Mock Town local informed, whose heart dropped very fast.

The green-haired's eyes widened in shock, slowly turning his head at the cruel old man, who just grinned sadistically. The boy wearing his red captain's coat however, gazed at Doc Q intensely, most of his eyes shadowed by his hat. "No.", he spoke, without a serious expression, yet clear as water.

After that, he walked away, prompting his first mate to follow him, still shocked.

'Holy hell, what did I just see?!', the tanned moss-haired thought, shaking his head after that to forget it, despite all this being something not easy to forget.

…

There they were, Mock Town's most famous pub. As Luffy and Zoro entered the bar, many pairs of unfamiliar eyes stared at the two infamous pirates. Neither one of them bothered reacting to those stares and simply walked straight forward to the counter in order to sit down, the younger one right next to an abnormally large black-haired man with dark skin, Blackbeard.

"Oi old man, get me a good amount of sake and a big T-bone!", Dragon's son demanded. The bartender complied, going to the kitchen.

"Get me some sake too.", the sake-addicted first mate added in the same tone.

Noticing all this, Marshall D. Teach slightly turned his head at the two, a surprised and interested look on his unshaven face. 'What's that? Those two there have uncommonly strong wills, espacially that straw hat boy. Wait, yeah, the straw hat. Where have I seen it before? Roger, Shanks… is that their successor or what?', he mused, being absorbed in his thoughts. 'I think I have seen that kid before, but where…? A, B, C, … C! He's that rookie who defeated Sir Crocodile, holy shit! I have seen his damn interview and didn't recognize him on an instant. He has a exceptionally strong haki, that's for sure. Wonder how good he fights, though. Definitely better than Commander Ace or Sabo, probably even Marco, I can tell that far.'

Little did the former Whitebeard Pirate know the strawhat was thinking about him too, except not in a positive way. 'Blackbeard, Teach, Fatass, Ugly mofo… I could call him by all these names and he'll still be the same fucking person. He let Ace die, he killed Whitebeard, Thatch, and lots of other good people in the old time. If I killed this asshole right now, so much of his bullshit would not happen later on, and the world would be happier.'

Teach finished eating the last piece of his beloved cherry pies. The captain of the Blackbeard Pirates emerged from his seat which was proportionally very small compared to his buttocks, and made his way out of the pub after leaving behind some money for the bartender currently delivering the other pirate captain's steak.

At the exact same time the Logia left, a new individual came in. A tanned blond man wearing a blue captain's coat, his loyal crew following him without question.

For the Darkness Human the new pirate was suspicious, a very high level at that. He, the stronger one of them, activated his Observation haki to see the newcomer's beliefs, dreams, goals and ambitions. The New World veteran was greatly disappointed in the rookie after learning about his personality.

'No way this guy can ever be a great pirate. A disgrace for the entirety of piracy. Tch, he's fodder anyway, why do I even care?'

The further away from the bar Blackbeard went, the closer the man the former deemed unworthy came to the bar. Noting the teenager wearing a red captain's coat, the deviously grinning infamous rookie approached him with evil intent.

'Bellamy, are you going to act like a dick again? Fine by me, just don't complain after being humiliated.'

"Kid, what's a brat like you doing in my favourite bar, drinking my favourite sake?"

Luffy, not offended by Bellamy at all, glanced at him for a second, before minding his own business.

Bellamy felt the urge to punch the kid, but refrained from that. Instead, he asked the younger one some things about being a pirate.

"So, what's your bounty? Shouldn't be that big."

Chewing the second last piece of meat, then swallowing it, the 17-year-old politely answered his question. "160 Million, why? I don't like to brag."

Angered by this, the rough captain of the Bellamy Pirates slammed his palm on the counter, yelling at the haki user. "160 Million?! DON'T TAKE THE PISS OUT OF ME!". The violent man calmed down a bit, breathing out heavily. "A lanky weak-looking boy like you could never have a bounty that high!"

Garp's grandson tried his best to make a naive, innocent face only for the sake of pissing the Spring Human off even more. "You know, judging the strength of someone on the Grand Line based on his or her appearance can cost you a head very quick."

That was it. Veins popped up on the proud rookie's tanned forehead, and the same's teeth were clenched. "ARE YOU MAKING FUN OF ME?!"

Still bearing his innocent look, the rubber man responded nicely. "No, not at all. I'm just giving you free advice, that's all."

Completely enraged, close to burning from anger, the Doflamingo fanboy reached back with his fist. When he swung his fist at the most wanted man's son, he let out a powerful shout. "DIE YOU LITTLE SHIT!"

Most of the pub expected the 17-year-old to die or suffer severe injuries. The townspeople knew angering the 55 Million Berry man was a deadly mistake – but that only counted for people weaker than him. Luffy, having the strenght that defines the Pirate King, caught the fist with a single finger, his pinkie of all things, and blocked the fist so hard, pushing it even back, the owner of that not-so-powerful fist was sent flying through the pub's wall, breaking through all other building next to it, until it was impossible to see if other walls followed or it was the end.

"Bellamy!", his nakama yelled, running out of the bar immediately.

'Nope, nope nope nope!', Sarquiss thought, leading the Bellamy Pirates for this moment. The blue-haired knew his captain was by far the strongest of his crew, and if someone fodderized his captain, there was no way for him or anyone else of his nakama to beat that specific man.

Wide-eyed, the crowd looked at the whole scene in disbelief, their mouths wide open, even Zoro's. "You repelled him with your fucking _PINKIE_?!"

Totally nonchalant, the pirate captain shrugged it off like it was nothing, although it really was nothing for him. "Zoro, I finished my sake and T-bone steak. If you finished yours, could we go back to our ship again?"

The loyal swordsman was perplexed once again, sweatdropping. "Y-yes, I finished mine. Let's go back to the ship as you say, Captain."

…

Back on Merry, Usopp, Chopper, Nami and Masira impatiently waited for the rest to show up. The navigator was especially ticked off. "Daaamn, where are they?! I don't want to wait for them the whole day!"

She grumbled for another few minutes until two of them appeared, as if her wish was fulfilled. "There you are! How much longer would you've let me waiting?!"

"Sorry Nami.", Luffy sarcastically apologized. "I was dealing with shady figures."

Some more time passed and Robin was seen returning with shopping bags, Sanji at her tail. The latter had hearts in his eyes and moved his body like an eel, slippery and swift. "Robin-chwann, shall I make you coffee once we're on deck?"

Smiling, the archaeologist approved. "Yes Cook-san, that would be nice of you."

"Of course, Robin-chwaaaan! I am the ladies' knight conquering every fair maiden's heart."

Taking her purple jacket off, the ex-scholar laid down on the ship's deck chair which was mostly used by her only. Her captain worth 160 Million Berry approached the deck chair, standing right next to the intelligent woman.

"So Robin,", the rubber man asked, "did you find anything interesting during your shopping trip?"

"Actually, yes. Here's a map of Jaya.", the Buster Call survivor said, handing the strawhat a map. "We're currently at Mock Town. See the 'X'? That's where a dreamer they chased out of the town lives. I think his name was Montblanc Cricket."

Having heard that name, the ape man reacted curious and cooperative to what the 28-year-old told. "Yes, that's where Old Man Cricket lives. I can get you there if you want."

Suddenly, another ship with a monkey figurehead appeared, sailing towards Going Merry. As the ship came closer, the captain of this ship was revealed. Another monkey-like man, this time with long, green hair and without permanent blush marks. "Masira.", the green-haired spoke with his high voice, noticing his brother. "Why are you not on your ship?"

"Ah, Shoujou!", the brown ape called, waving his hands. "Meet these guys, they want to visit Old Man Cricket."

Shoujou frowned. "Okay, that's good, but you didn't answer my question."

"A lot of things happened.", the younger salvager informed. "At first I met those guys salvaging stuff from a galleon that sunk one or two hours ago. I was angry when I found out they tricked me, but when they told me they were just looking for stuff from Sky Island, I decided to forgive them and show them the way to where Old Man Cricket lives. Then some huge-ass monsters showed up and we had to flee. That's why I'm here."

Frowning even harder, Shoujou decided to accept that explanation of his fellow ape. "Ookay?! Anyways, if we're here together, then why don't we all go to Old Man Cricket at the same time?"

"Sounds good.", the ginger mumbled.

"I agree.", the long-nosed murmured.

Before approving on his behalf, the future Pirate King looked at everyone for a moment. "Yosh! What are we waiting for? To Cricket-ossan!"

…

2 hours later the Straw Hats, the Shoujou Pirates and the captain of the Masira Pirates arrived at Cricket's house. From the front side it looked like a castle where a noble would live in.

"Is this Cricket guy mega rich?!", Usopp exclaimed, amazed of the 'castle', just like Chopper.

"Idiots, look closely!", the mosshead spoke.

And he was right. To Chopper's surprise, the castle was only a board and Cricket's real home was quite small. "What the…?! It's just a board!"

"What?!"

Sighing first, the tanned swordsman explained it to the disappointed sniper. "The actual house is only half of it. The rest is just a veneer. He seems like a cheap guy."

Thinking that speaking about houses and being cheap is a waste of time, the orange-haired changed the topic. "So, what kind of dreams does this Cricket guy have?"

Both Shoujou and Masira smirked widely. "Old Man Cricket believes in Sky Island and the legendary Mountain of Gold."

"Yeah yeah, he's a true dreamer!"

The girl's eyes turned into Berries. "D-did you say Mountain of Gold?"

Further away, the young D. noted the 18-year-old ordering the reindeer to dig for gold. But he skipped that nonsense. The devil fruit user knocked on the elder man's door. "Anyone inside?"

No answer. Disappointed, the black-haired returned to the shore where Sanji and the rest were hanging out, taking sips out of booze bottles.

"Oi Luffy, is Cricket there?", the blond asked, currently not smoking.

"Nah, he's not."

"Hmmm.", the older ape-like man hummed, his head and right hand in a thinking position. "Old Man Cricket dives everyday searching for the Mountain of Gold in the sea. This is where it's rumored to be, m-"

Bubbles forming on the sea's surface interrupted the monkey human's sentence. A blond man with a chestnut on his head came out of the water. "Damn it!", the older man cursed. "Still didn't fight it!"

He eyed the salvaging brothers and somewhat surrogate sons, as well as some strangers. "Shoujou, Masira, you're back! Who are your friends?"

"Old Man Cricket, they are-"

Unexpectedly, Cricket collapsed on spot, greatly surprising all onlookers.

"OLD MAN CRICKET!", the monkeys shouted out simultaneously, seriously worried about him.

"Someone get a doctor, quick!", Masira demanded.

Upon the request of a doctor, the blue-nosed freaked out, wildly running around. "A doctor, a doctor?! Oh wait that's me."

With that, the reindeer-human hybrid ordered Montblanc Cricket to be carried immediately to his bed so that the over-middle-aged man could be treated. 'In times like this I have to prove myself as a doctor, a lifesaver.'

…

Around one hour later, the elder man was able to stand again.

"OLD MAN CRICKET, YOU'RE FINE!", the salvager brothers cheerfully yelled.

One of them turned around to thank the aged man's savior. "Thanks Chopper, you're a good doctor. We'll always be in your debt."

The light brown-furred reindeer did his dance again, his face red from blushing. "Don't compliment me, it doesn't make me happy, even if it does."

Meanwhile, the more mature people in this room had a more serious conversation.

"So, I see you're familiar with Shoujou and Masira, but who are you and why did you come here?", Cricket asked.

"We've heard you know something about Sky Island, and we want to go there, so we asked the monkey brothers to show us the way to your place so that you can tell us about Sky Island.", Luffy told him, serious about the mythical island.

Cricket chuckled. "Sky Island, you say? You believe in that?"

"Why, yes, everyone here does, do you not believe in Sky Island?", Dragon's son asked, raising a brow.

The blond chestnut-haired chuckled once more. "I believe in it too, like a certain man. But that man is known to be one of the biggest liars in history."

"One of the biggest liars? Tell me about him."

"Listen up.", the passionate diver spoke, sitting down on his bed. "If you really want to go to Sky Island, do it. But I warn you, it might be dangerous there, I guarantee for nothing. I was never there, but I know a little about its history, its origins and how to get there. The story I'll tell you is long, so I advise you to pay attention. Here we begin…"

…

After a VERY long story of Montblanc Cricket, who revealed himself as the descendant of Montblanc Noland, a well-known legendary liar in North Blue, the Straw Hats had gotten a clue of what they had to do and how the other half of Jaya got to Sky Island.

"So,", Nami reiterated, "you are saying there's a city of gold in that other part of Jaya that was blown into a sea in the sky by this Knock Up Stream?"

"A-and we have to go there by this Knock Up Stream too?", Usopp repeated, sweating out of fear.

"And to reach that stream, we need those strange birds you told us about?", Zoro asked again.

Nodding, Cricket confirmed it all. "Correct. You better start searching the South Birds now, since the Knock Up Stream will occur tomorrow at 9. But before you go, I might add that the South Birds are cunning beings that aren't caught that easily. And also, only take South Birds, not North- East-, or West Birds."

Masira jumped in. "And while you're searching for the South Birds, Shoujou and I'll make your ship capable of flight. It shouldn't be hard."

The Straw Hats nodded in understanding, six of them heading for the exit of the chestnut-haired man's house. Then they noticed their captain was staying back. "Eh, Luffy, why are you standing here? Don't we want to catch a South Bird?", Sanji asked, frowning.

Garp's grandson gave his nakama a confident smile, standing tall with his arms crossed. "Me and Robin will stay here, while you search the South Birds. That way you'll train, improve your haki and maybe learn something new."

Most of his nakama looked at him in disbelief. "I understand you staying back, but why Robin?", the swordsman questioned, rubbing his head.

"Because,", the King's haki user answered, "with Robin, it would be far too easy for you. Her abilities would allow her to catch our target within seconds. Without her, the task given to you will be much harder. You'll need that because you'll have to learn sooner or later how to fight or do your job while struggling. Is something unclear or do you understand?"

No response to the captain, except a giggle by the woman chosen to stay on his side.

"I'll see you later. Have fun searching!", the meat-loving pirate captain called after his friends who were walking into Jaya's dark rainforest. It'd gotten dark by that time.

The Oharan smiled at her equally intelligent captain. "Captain-san, why did you want me to stay here?"

"I told you, it'd be too easy for them with you."

"Do you really think I'm as strong as you might think? Honestly, I'm not."

Luffy shrugged. "Not that much physically, but your intelligence and the potential of your devil fruit differs you from the others."

That last part got the raven-haired's attention. "Potential of my devil fruit?"

Smirking at her, the strawhat walked next to the tall blue-eyed, wrapping his left arm around her shoulder. "Your devil fruit is actually one of the greatest.", he said, moving his hand like a rainbow from left to right. "Imagine what you could do with it. Make clones of yourself, sprout wings to fly, sprout giant limbs to crush your enemies. And let's not forget haki. If you learned how to use Armament haki on your extra body parts, you'd be almost unstoppable."

Afterwards, the black-haired let go of the tanned archaeologist, who found the ideas and knowledge of the boy interesting. "Wow, you have ideas of things I didn't imagine I could do, I'm genuinely impressed. And Captain-san, what is haki?"

Now, the future Pirate King smirked even wider. "Good that you ask, you, along with Zoro and Sanji, possess the greatest amount of power to fully unlock haki very early compared to others. There are three types of haki: Observation haki, Armament haki and King's haki. Observation haki is a power where you can sense the presence of others around you in form of auras. You can also predict attacks of your opponent before he or she executes them."

Robin was surprised. "You know, Captain-san, when I close my eyes, I can feel the presence of others and predict my enemy's attacks so I can evade or counter them. I didn't know I used haki before you told me, thank you very much."

The teenager's smirk changed into a friendlier smile. "Shishishi, no need to thank me. You are so much of use to us without even knowing, that's why I like you."

Hearing that, the 28-year-old smiled, the smile fueled by her heart, but her eyes turned shiny. 'Thanks so much, Captain-san…'

"Then there's Armament haki, a power where you embed your body or your weapons in armor created by willpower. Strong Armament haki turns the parts you embedded with it black, weak haki stays invisible. At last there's King's haki, the most powerful type of haki. Unlike the previous two versions, King's haki cannot be awakened by everyone. Only one in a few million posesses King's haki. With King's haki, you can overpower the wills of others. Or easier explained, you can knock out the weaker-willed with energy waves you emit. I possess it, but there is a chance you, just like everyone else of the crew, possess it too."

"My my.", the ex-scholar spoke, recovering from her touched state. "You are really powerful."

Once again, the 17-year-old shrugged. "I know that I'm powerful, but I _really_ don't like to brag. And about your haki, from now on, I'll be training you."

She giggled again. "Why me, Captain-san?"

"Simple.", the rubber man answered. "Zoro's too much of a good match for Sanji. They aren't best friends for no reason, even if they won't admit it. Nami and Usopp are better off by themselves, their power levels are pretty much equal."

Happy with that decision, the Oharan nodded again. "Aah, tha-"

Her sentence was interrupted by a call from one of the ape brothers, Masira. "Luffy, we've got a problem! Someone's going to attack us!"

The two rushed outside to where they were, Shoujou, Masira and Cricket, the founders of the Saruyama Alliance. After leaving the stone house, Luffy and Robin saw the aggressors. It was Bellamy and his crew, the infamous and hated Bellamy Pirates.

"Cricket you old fart, hand over your gold bullion if you and these overgrown apes don't want to get hurt!"

As he tilted his head slightly to the left, the tanned blond noted a certain strawhat who thrashed him earlier that morning. The Doflamingo fanboy clenched his teeth and fists in anger and fear.

"Bellamy, don't do anything stupid if you know what's good for you."

"Stay out of this!", the pirate captain with a blue captain's coat screamed. "I want this geezer's gold, and I'm gonna get it!"

For the third time, Cricket chuckled. "Kid, I wouldn't be that sure about it. Don't underestimate the Saruyama alliance!"

Bellamy took the old man's words as a challenge. Swiftly, he turned to his crew, viciously grinning. "Everyone, look at my powers. I ate the Bane Bane no mi, which turned me into a Spring Human.". The 55 Million Berry rookie fixed his head back on his target, the brown-furred monkey-like man, before licking around his mouth with his tongue, honouring his ephitet, 'Bellamy the Hyena'. "Let the show begin. Spring Snipe!"

After turning both his legs into springs, the anti-dreamer launched himself at Masira, hitting the latter with full force, causing the younger salvager to cough up blood.

"This was just the beginning. Spring Snipe!". The North Blue pirate did the same to Shoujou, whose blood splattered on the attacker's fists.

Most people would be terrified if blood landed on one's fist, but Bellamy enjoyed it. Licking up the blood on his fist, the sadistic outlaw sneered at Noland's descendant. "Hehehe, two down, one more to go! Spring Snipe!"

The attack coming from his right, or from the forest's side, Cricket dodged. Unfortunately for all Straw Hats, the Spring Human used Merry to redirect himself at the elder man. He abruptly repelled himself off the ship. The impact was so powerful, Merry vertically split in two, with the keel broken.

Luffy's eyes widened in shock, far wider than Robin's. The black-haired had just realized who broke Merry's keel. 'Bellamy… that bastard… HE was the one who fatally damaged Merry… I forgave him in Dressrosa, but I won't ever forgive him again!'

Abrubtly, the 160 Million Berry man crackled both of his hands, charging at the culprit who was too busy laughing at the old man he managed to defeat. 'No mercy, not after what he's done!'

"GOMU GOMU NO RIFLE!"

Silence after the dealing blow. Everyone, the Bellamy Pirates, the Saruyama Alliance, Nico Robin, all shocked. The notorious criminal Bellamy was lying beaten, defeated, humiliated in front of the boy in red whose red captain's coat was fluttering in the wind. Upon closer look, the people around the two captains were able to recognize a permanent fist-shaped deformation on the left side of the loser's face.

"BELLAMY!"

Hysterically, his nakama ran up to him, picking him up and running straight back to their ship.

"If I ever see you scum again…", the fuming teen warned, heavily breathing, "I'll-"

"It's okay, we're leaving!", Lily of Bellamy's crew almost shrieked. "Don't kill us!"

As the enemy ship set sail a minute later, the rubber man dropped on the ground, still breathing heavily. The four around him eyed his tired, stressed body, and muttered out the way they adressed the black-haired.

"Kid…"

"Luffy…"

"Captain-san…"

…

Some more minutes passed, and the strawhat sat on a chair inside the chestnut-haired's house, slowly drinking his tea. Robin the thoughtful archaeologist noted how her captain was still upset, and talked to him.

"Captain-san, I have never seen you so angry, what happened?"

"It's Merry.", the 17-year-old explained, still intensely glaring. "That son of a bitch broke Merry's keel. A ship's keel is basically the backbone of a ship. I think it's pretty clear now Merry's irrepairable and won't get extremely far, isn't it?"

The calm and collected raven-haired didn't understand and stared at him, neither in a mocking, nor in an understanding manner.

"A good ship is more than just a means of transportation. If you care enough for a ship, its spirit will show itself to you. Any ship has a soul, so does Merry. And Bellamy just sped up the death of Merry… it's sad, so sad."

Now the blue-eyed did kind of understand. 'A ship has a soul and can really die… sad if you think about it.'

Just then, the other Straw Hats arrived from Jaya's rainforest, covered in sweat and dirt. Alongside them a tied-up colorful bird which was cursing the five in his native language came.

"Luffy!", the sniper exclaimed, shocked and upset. "What happened to Merry?!"

"Some fucking jerks damaged it.", Garp's grandson responded absent-mindedly. "But Masira and Shoujou said they'll repair and modify it all night long. So yeah, there's nothing much to worry about."

The tanned Oharan was confused. Previously, he told her the ship was irrepairable, but now he said there's nothing much to worry about?

"Captain-san, why are you-"

"Robin, let's talk later, alone."

Although she wasn't satisfied with that response, the tall woman nodded in understanding.

…

It was close to midnight, some more hours passed. During that time, the five Straw Hats searching South Birds complained to their captain how much of an ordeal all that was, despite improving their mental and physical skills and abilities. Now that they were sleaping the 28-year-old met up with her straw-hatted captain in order to talk about what happened previously.

"Captain-san, why did you lie to Sniper-san about the ship's condition?"

After taking a deep breath, the boy in red looked in his archaeologist's eyes for a few seconds before speaking. "Because Usopp… well, Usopp shares the strongest bond with Merry. She, Merry was given to us by Kaya, Usopp's girlfriend. It would break his heart to know the most sincere present given to him by his crush will no longer exist soon. That's why I lied. I am prepared for Merry's death, and will shed tears once that happens. It's inevitable."

Totally understanding, the Buster Call survivor tried to lighten up the caring pirate's mood. "It's fine Captain-san, you care so much about your nakama. You seriously need someone caring about you the same way you care about them."

"It's just,", he began, "I don't want an escalation between Usopp and me once that time comes… not again."

"Not again? What do you mean by that, did Sniper-san and you have a big fight before I joined?"

'Shit, I have said something I shouldn't have said by now.'

Letting out a chuckle out of despair, the spiritually 29-year-old revealed something important very early. "No, I mean yes… How do I express this? I have a big secret I didn't plan on revealing until a specific time. But since you are trustworthy enough to know, I can tell you now, can I?"

"You have my word, I won't tell anyone.", the 79 Million Berry woman reassured him.

"Good. The truth is, I have lived once before. As weird as that sounds, I have. In my former life, I was a pirate too. A pretty good one actually, almost Pirate King. You were part of my crew, just like everyone else right now and also some people you'll meet in the future. But in front of Raftel, we were ambushed. All of my nakama were killed by the Marines. Killing those vermin after that didn't help me a single bit. I spared only two Marines, an old friend of mine and my grandpa. This old friend ate the Time-Time fruit and made it possible for me to go back in time. I approached my seven-year-old self and we fused souls, my memories and my strength were given to him, or me, whatever you like. That's the reason why I'm so mature and strong now. I want to avoid every bad thing that happened to me and everyone I care for. That's why."

Unexpressably shocked by this, Robin opened her mouth in disbelief, gaping at the technically 29-year-old kid. "I-is all this true?"

"Yes… don't worry, I will not be unable to save you this time. This also goes for my other nakama. But I can't do that alone. I'm not wanting to make you stronger for no reason. If you are too shocked by this and don't want to continue sailing with me, then I'll accept it, I can't force my dearest to do something they don't want to."

Suddenly, Dragon's son felt a light slap on his cheek. "Captain-san, you are my captain and very intelligent, but you just said something incredibly stupid. As if I'd want to leave because of this. It did shock me, but for saving me back in Alabasta, you'll have to deal with me following you until one of us dies. And since you have the power to prevent that, I'll be with you until the very end, and I'll be enjoying it with every single bit of my heart."

Luffy gave his archaeologist a relieved smirk. "Until the very end, you say?"

The raven-haired beauty smirked back. "Yes, until the very end. With all my heart."

After smirking at each other and then wholeheartedly laughing for about a minute, the dark-haired duo decided to go to sleep, arms wrapped around shoulders. Sky Island was waiting for them.

…

At 8 in the morning, the Straw Hats woke up. Getting outside, all Straw Hats were happy to see their currently favourite ship, Merry, modified and repaired. Cricket, Shoujou and Masira have been working all night long on the small, yet happy ship. The modified look of Merry wasn't much different, except it had wings on both sides.

"Sugoooi!", the sharpshooter and doctor exclaimed, stars in their eyes. "Sky Island~, Sky Island~"

"So, we're really going to Sky Island?", the green-haired questioned, excited inside.

"You can count on it.", the rubber man said. "Yosh, let's get going, we can't miss this chance!"

A minute passed, the Straw Hats all went aboard. It was this moment, Montblanc Cricket decided to say something. "Strawhat, if you reach Sky Island, let me know Noland didn't lie!"

Smiling, the strawhat reassured the old man. "I will, Cricket-ossan!"

With that, he orderd the lifting of Merry's anchor, setting sail. The way to the spot the Knock Up Stream would show up wasn't that short, and took them some time. Shoujou and Masira's ships accompanied them.

"Thank you for everything, Cricket-san/-ossan!"

…

55 minutes passed, and Going Merry was on the exact spot the Knock Up Stream would occur. The sky turned dark, indicating the massive blow of water.

But that wasn't the only dark thing. In the far, Luffy could see Blackbeard's raft approaching. The traitor's crewmembers were also there, Van Auger, Jesus Burgess, Doc Q and his horse Stronger.

"Zehahahaha! Pirate Hunter, Strawhat! Your bounties will be mine!"

"Oi Luffy.", the vice-captain spoke. "Isn't that the dude from the bar? What's he doing here?"

'Blackbeard, fucking Blackbeard… Come closer so that I can punch you into the ocean, you fucker!'

Masira and Shoujou, unaware of their relationship with the future Shichibukai, let the raft pass.

Suddenly, earlier than expected, before the Blackbeard Pirates could come close to Merry, the water under the ship bulged out until the point where it was all knocked up.

"Grab onto the reiling or mast, the ship is going up!", the pirate captain ordered before the ship was sent flying in the air.

And when the ship was flying, it was spectacular. Wind blew on the faces of the comparably small crew, while Merry was rapidly ascending.

"It's incredible!", the cook shouted, laughing out of joy. It felt like his heart had gotten lighter.

"Sugoooooi!", the reindeer exclaimed out of happiness. Normally, he'd be scared, but at times like this where adventure was awaiting him, he got over his fear.

The 60 Million Berry man simply smirked, proud of his captain, proud of his crew, and proud of himself, for making it that far.

"Uaaaah, can't we go a little slower?", the marksman yelled, his nose hanging down due to the wind.

"Sorry, we can't.", the navigator answered. "If we slowed down, our ship would fall down to its doom, along with us."

"I wish I hadn't asked…"

"Fufufu.", the ex-scholar giggled.

'Wait for me Enel, I'll kick your ass to the moon again!'. "SKYPIEAAAAA!"

Continuously rising, Merry disappeared within the dark clouds, awaiting a completely new kind of sea.

* * *

 **That was it for today, longest chapter so far. I really hope you liked it.**

 **2 IMPORTANT ANNOTATIONS!**

 **1\. This is regarding the comments. From next chapter on, I will no longer answer Guests' comments. It gets confusing when there are multiple commenters with the name 'Guest'. I hope you can understand this.**

 **2\. Where I live, summer holidays are approaching. I will be gone for a very long time without my PC. Here's the sad news: Due to my long absence, I won't be able to write new chapters until mid-september. That's right, I will be on hiatus. No worries, I will return after that, though. Disappointing my readers isn't my style.**

 **Constructive criticism allowed. Rate and review if you like.**


	18. C18: Arrival at Skypiea

**Never again!**

 **I'm finally back! Thank you all for the new follows and favourites, as well as reviews! We've stopped at the end of Jaya and very beginning of Skypiea, and we'll continue from that point on. Have fun reading!**

 **Answer to mirumy: Thanks for waiting and your support, I appreciate it a lot.**

 **Answer to Chrisfragger: Blackbeard will get what he deserves, just wait for it and it'll be more satisfying.**

 **Answer to Edub102: Thanks a lot, you're a nice guy.**

 **Answer to wowlol12: Yeah, good that you like it, it's for plot purposes and I have planned it from early on. I hope you'll like what I'll make out of it.**

 **Answer to Reaper: That's because he doesn't need it for now. Crocodile was a piece of cake for him, so will be most of his enemies before the New World.**

 **Answer to sudhush: Thanks you for all your reviews.**

 **Answer to Meazm: Thank you too.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**

* * *

 **Chapter 18: Arrival at Skypiea**

The clouds turned from black to white after a certain height was reached when the Straw Hats on Merry were ascending up the massive stream of seawater. And after the small group of pirates finished their ride up into the sky, the small vessel was catapulted into a sea of clouds, water from the Blue Sea raining on them.

"Damn… is everyone okay?", a soaking wet Zoro asked his equally wet nakama, breathing heavily.

Luffy was the first one to stand up and answer. "Yeah, nobody here looks hurt.". The 17-year-old raised his head, looking around for some seconds. "Look outside the ship everyone!", he exclaimed in joy. "We made it, guys, we made it to Sky Island!"

His mouth wide open, Sanji looked at the scenery in amazement. "It's pure white… a miracle?!"

"Clouds?! We're in the clouds?!", Chopper shouted, excited more than ever. In only about four weeks, the reindeer had seen more than in his 15 years of life on Drum Island. The sea surely was a mysterious place, and the Straw Hat Pirates most definitely a strange group dragging him into crazy adventures and mysterious places.

Nami was surprised and amazed, but something didn't seem right to her, despite the 18-year-old being a navigator. 'How are we standing on these clouds…?'

"Oh no! Usopp's not breathing!". A dramatic scream from the youngest Straw Hat disrupted her thoughts. "CPR, CPR!"

"Okay! I'll give Nami-san CPR!", the pervert raved, wild in his imaginations.

"Moron.", the cook's counterpart remarked, barely hearable for all others.

Meanwhile, after a successful heart massage, Usopp woke up panting. "Clouds… what?!"

The sniper shot up from his position on the floor, eyes bulged out and his tongue moving in a flowing manner. "Yes, these are clouds, and there are so many! Just what is this?!"

"Basically… an ocean in the sky?", the ginger let out, fascinated about her world's crazy environment and physics.

"An ocean…". The sharpshooter shortly thought about it and suddenly had an idea about being a brave warrior of the sea. "Look at me guys, I'm gonna swim in this white sea!"

Taking off his overall, the lanky, skinny marksman prepared to take a dive, but a stretchy hand stopped him from doing so. "I wouldn't do that, Usopp. We're above the clouds, and clouds have no solid bottom. You'd just fall down to the Blue Sea and die if you jumped off Merry's railing."

That said, the unusually brave boy's expression got negative, his head pointing down and a dark blue aura surrounding it. "Sky Islands are scary…"

On the railing, the reindeer-human hybrid looked around with some binoculars. It wasn't long until he spotted a ship from the Blue Sea. "A ship! Hey guys, a ship! …and a person?"

Said person was seen by the Zoan user demolishing that ship with his bazooka. The brown-furred reacted scared and panicked. "Aaaah! The ship…"

"Huh, what's wrong, Chopper?", the blond asked, worried. "What's with that ship?"

"The ship was there, but it's gone now! A bull shot it down with its bazooka and is coming towards our ship now-"

"Calm down Chopper, you don't make any sense!", the swordsman snapped. 'Ridiculous… A bull with a bazooka!'

Suddenly, the leg fighter noticed a strange person on weird skater-like shoes swiftly riding towards Merry, on the clouds. The mysterious individual was quite dark-skinned, wore colorful tribal clothing and small white wings, carried a shield, a tribal mask with bull-like horns covering the man's eyes, and a large but slim bazooka. "It's a person! Someone's coming!"

Now the green-haired looked at the armed guerilla too, and he realized he was just proven wrong.

With a jump, the ferocious man lunged at the pirate ship, its passengers aware of his presence.

"Hey, stop! What do you want?", the fighting cook demanded loudly.

"To eliminate you!"

After such a clear answer, the ex-prince and ex-bounty hunter standing at the front side of Merry got in their fighting stances, their faces turning dark.

"Looks like he wants to fight!"

"Fine by me!"

The former royal Sanji raised his leg against the wild Shandian's shield, greatly slowing him down. Nevertheless, the sheer force of the tribal warrior knocked the Vinsmoke down. This defensive move wasn't futile though. Thanks to the cook slowing the man down, Zoro was able to push the intruder back with his swords.

'Wyper, I almost forgot how much of a savage and threat you were. Even if you're Enel's enemy too, I can't tolerate attacks on my nakama!'. Then the strawhat pulled back his arm to completely drive the tattooed Shandian savage off his ship. "Gomu Gomu no Gatling!"

A broken shield and some minor bruises later, the bitter man pointed his rocket-launching weapon at the Straw Hats from the distance he's been sent to by the captain. 'Yeah, you foreigners from the Blue Sea… die by Shandia's wrath, just like the Priests and Skypieans later!'

"That is far enough!"

Wyper knew whose voice that was. One of his biggest enemies.

In a rapid speed, an armored man with a lance standing on a big bird came flying towards the guerilla sent his fellow male flying, far away. The next thing he did was landing on Merry's railing.

"What?! Who is this now?", a certain orange-haired exclaimed, fearing another attack.

But the knight-like man, now after a better look seen as an old man, wasn't interested in attacking the vessel or its owners. Instead, the bearded man introduced himself in a very polite and friendly manner. "I am the Sky Knight."

…

After the atmosphere around the Straw Hats cooled down, everyone was more open for a peaceful conversation. "The… Sky Knight?"

"Yes, the Sky Knight. You can also call me Gan Fall.", Gan Fall answered.

"Thank you for saving us.", the blue-nosed said, panting. "Anyways, who was that guy speeding on the clouds, and why was he doing that in the first place?"

"That, tanuki, was an armed guerilla. They are not uncommon here in the White White Sea, and most Blue Sea people, you excluded, have almost no chance in defeating them.", the old man exclaimed with his wise face. "I am a freelance soldier-to-hire, and can assist you if you ever need help."

He threw a light-silver whistle into the hands of Nami after fiddling in his pocket. "A blow into this whistle summons me at your service. Normally, each use would cost 5.000.000 Extol, but only for this time, I'm giving it to you for free, and you can use it limitless."

Sanji and Zoro tilted their heads. "What do you mean, Extol?"

The elderly knight frowned, his eyes wider open than usual. "You surely must've heard of Extol, right? You came here via the summit of High-West, did you not? Then you must have passed an island or two."

Upon hearing this, the surprised 18-year-old ginger shot up from her position. "Wait, there are other ways of coming to this Sky Ocean? And there are multiple Sky Islands?"

Skypiea's former god's eyes opened up even wider, now knowing the Straw Hat Pirates' route to Sky Island. "Don't tell me you came here via the-"

"We rode the Knock-Up Stream.", Robin interrupted the knight-like man.

"That monstrous current? So there are still people gutsy enough for that…"

That was a big shock for the orange-haired, who abruptly teared up after hearing that. "It wasn't a normal route after all…"

She furiously grabbed her captain by her collar and began wildly shaking him. "We could've died, you know! We could've done it more safely if we had gathered more information!"

Ignoring all this drama, Gan Fall continued. "Did you lose any of your crew?", he inquired.

"No, we're all here.", Luffy answered, not being shaken anymore.

"That wouldn't have been the case with any other route.", the white-haired told. "100 people head into the sky, a few arrive, and someone survives. That is the gamble. But with the Knock-Up Stream, everyone dies or everyone arrives. That's it. Not many can make that all-or-nothing bet, especially these days. I now see that you are capable navigators with courage and skill."

Freeing himself from his navigator's grasp, the black-haired proceeded to complain at her. "See, Nami? Don't always be so negative, instead be proud you've enabled us a safe trip through the Knock-Up Stream."

Nami blinked two times and calmed down afterwards, smiling and sighing. "You know what Luffy, you're right. I should be proud of achieving dangerous things.". All of a sudden, her expression changed like a storm. "But don't agree on things that are TOO reckless, there's always a limit!"

Garp's grandson smirked at her in a mocking way. "And what's the limit? Challenging a Revolutionary Army Top Officer, a Yonko Commander, an Admiral, a Yonko, three Admirals, four Yonko, all Top Officers and my dad? Or all of their groups, crews and armies combined?"

The sassy money-lover wasn't any good in taking offensive jokes towards her and provocations, so she angrily slapped the 160 Million Berry man across his face at least 10 times. "An RA Top Officer alone is too far, idiot!"

'Ha! If only she knew…'. While thinking that, Dragon's son bore a lewd smile on his face.

"Anyways", the Skypiean continued, pointing his hand at his pet. "This is Pierre, my partner. He is a Sky Dot Bird which ate the Uma Uma no mi and gained horse powers. Look at them."

Slowly, Pierre transformed into his hybrid form resembling a pegasus. The Straw Hats were in awe while watching the transformation, but soon gravely disappointed, since the twin-beast didn't look elegant at all, contrary to a real pegasus.

"How unexciting."

"May luck be with you, warriors!", the honorable knight called, while riding away on his not-so-beautiful flying horse.

"That was a weird thing it turned into.", Usopp remarked, sweatdropping. "Was there even a reason for it to transform?"

"Good question…"

"In the end, we haven't learned much.", the 60 Million Berry man observed, interrupting this part of their conversation, a serious look on his face. "What are we going to do now?"

First looking at his first mate, then his navigator, the tall boy wearing his captain's coat made a suggestion. "I think we should follow the Log Pose, what do you say, Nami?"

Sweating and blinking again, the ginger gulped and tried to explain their difficult situation. "I'd say so too, but the needle is pointing upwards, and in that direction where the Log Pose is pointing to, there's a strange waterfall."

"Hmmmm.", the future Pirate King loudly mused, turning his head towards the waterfall. "It's decided, we're going to get a closer look. Set sail!"

Without any complaints, the group of 7 followed their captain's orders and set sail.

…

After passing some bouncy clouds, the Straw Hats arrived at a white and golden kind-of star-shaped gate with a red sign reading 'HEAVEN'S GATE'. The building itself was an impressing thing to look at, the sign not so much, as the liar found out after recognizing a deeper meaning behind those words. "'Heaven's gate'…? That's unlucky! It sounds like we're on our way to die!"

"Heh, perhabs we're already dead.", the Shimotsuki Villager joked, intending to inflict fear on the black-haired coward.

His plan, however, went down the drain as the wrong coward got scared and he himself was whacked on the head by a certain orange-haired after that bad joke. "Ow, what was that for?!"

"Your jokes aren't funny!"

As the Straw Hats sailed closer to the gate, they noted a short, wrinkled old lady with small wings taking photos of them with a camera. "I am Amazon, the Heaven's Gate inspector. Sightseeing, or perhabs war?"

Nami was puzzled upon hearing that question. "Uhhh, I guess it's kind of like sightseeing…", she answered, sweatdropping.

"We wanna go to Skypiea.", the 17-year-old informed. "It's past this gate, right?"

"And what do you mean by war?", the first mate questioned, having his brow raised.

The old woman at the gate didn't reply for some seconds, until a dry reply came out of her dry throat. "It doesn't matter either way. If you're going to the upper area, pay the entrance fee of one billion Extol per person. That is the law."

Sanji let out an annoyed sigh. "There's this Extol stuff again…"

"Whatever it is, one billion sounds really expensive.", Chopper remarked.

"One billion for one person… seven billion for seven people…", Robin observed, having no idea on how to pay such an amount.

She realized the rubber man was looking at her, so she turned her eyes towards him as well. "I am quoting that old lady, _"it doesn't matter either way."_ We don't have a single Extol on our ship, so we can't enter legally through this gate."

"And that is EXACTLY the problem!", the Cocoyasi Villager snapped at the pirate captain with sharp teeth.

"You can pass.", Amazon said, confusing most Straw Hats. "Or you can not pass. I am neither a gatekeeper, nor a guard. I simply ask for your intentions."

Upon hearing that, the strawhat laughed out loudly. "Hahahaha! Then let's go right now! Hahahaha! What are we waiting for?"

Out of nowhere, two large crab scissors grabbed Merry's wings, scaring everyone except Luffy. "W-what the hell is this?!"

"The White Sea's famous Express Lobster…"

Before the Express Lobster carried the small pirate ship to Sky Island's Angel Beach, the 160 Million Berry man turned to his long-nosed sniper. "Usopp, before we go, could you shoot that old lady's camera and destroy it? We're entering illegally, and eliminating proof would spare us from unnecessary trouble, don't you think so too?"

The darker-skinned sharpshooter frowned. "I always knew there was something wrong with all this, and now that you say it… Namari Boshi!"

A ball of lead fired from the slingshot Ginga Pachinko first cracked the dial camera, then burst it into thousands of pieces. The wrinkled woman's outer expression didn't change. "Oh, my camera…"

And then the giant lobster started moving. Rapidly, the reddish invertebrate traveled up the waterfall, almost as fast as the Knock-Up Stream.

"It's moving!"

"It's going up the waterfall!"

"What great speed!"

"Hold on tight!"

…

There was a difference between the ride up the Knock-Up stream and this waterfall. While the first route was only straight forward, countless curves and whirly roads surprised the adventuring pirates. Nonetheless, similarities existed. Both rides made the cowardly trio scream, and the cloud color in both rides turned from black and dark grey to white towards the end.

"That's the exit!", the doctor shouted in awe, staring at the bright light from above in amazement. "Oh wait, there's a sign with something written on it."

Just as the reindeer said, there was in fact a sign. A red and rectangular one with golden letters. "Godland Skypiea.", the archaeologist read out loud.

'God's land? More like Enel's stolen land.', Garp's grandson thought.

"It's getting closer and closer!", the fighting cook exclaimed, making an excited face like the rest of his nakama. They all knew, what happened before was just the beginning, the real adventure would begin in a few seconds.

…

With a godly splash, the Straw Hats landed on the White-White Sea after exiting that stream. Immediately after landing, they eyed a majestic island of clouds that looked like a part of heaven. "It's a Sky Island!"

All of the Straw Hat crew's faces changed into either excitement or awe, with the Oharan's face being the most neutral. "Hey, that sign read Skypiea, didn't it?"

This made the navigator put up a conclusion. "The galleon that fell on us really did come here… which means they saw this scenery two hundred years ago!"

Completely ignoring the ginger's conclusion, Luffy jumped down Merry close to the coast, Usopp falling down behind him. "Your feet can touch the bottom. It's like a beach here."

As soon as both 17-year-olds got to the shore, the small reindeer-human hybrid ran after them in excitement, shouting out how cool this fluffy island was.

"Luffy, what about the anchor?", the last man on the ship called out.

"Put it down, I don't care!"

Silently, the swordsman complied and put down the comparably small anchor, not caring much about the fun his nakama were having at the moment. He'd be joining them soon anyway, and all of this was too funny for his taste anyway.

…

Right now, in a shrine located on Upper Yard, Enel summoned his priests for an urgency meeting. When the priests arrived, each noted the kanji for God, Kami, on the roof.

Gedatsu, who constantly bit his lower lip and couldn't release a sound other than 'Mhh', tried to cross his arms but failed due to his stupidity and incompetence.

Satori jumped around like the ball he was, laughing out his terribly annoying laugh.

Ohm eyed those two behind his sunglasses for a while, before looking forward again. "Tch.", he spat out in annoyance. "These damn idiots are annoying as hell!"

"I agree with you on that.", Shura said, minding his own business.

And there, like a flash, God Enel appeared on his throne-like seat, impressing his priests once more with his speed. "Yahahaha!"

When his god sat down, the bald priest stepped forward and kneed down with his right leg, the other law enforcers of Upper Yard following. "Enel-sama, why did you call us in?"

Enel bit in his apple and gulped down a good chunk of it before answering. "Yahahaha! Seven Blue Sea dwellers have entered Skypiea. I do not know who they are, but they are strong. Four of them have Mantra, and one of them even has two other types of Mantra I don't know about."

Skypiea's current god ate the rest of his fruit. "My point is", he said, throwing the leftover away, "you are weak. You need to train more."

The pilot-like priest couldn't believe his ears. "But Enel-sama!", Shura loudly complained. "Those Blue Sea dwellers can't be this strong!"

Confused by his subordinate's exclamation, the former Birkan gave him a weird look. "Don't underestimate your opponents, Shura.", he scolded absent-mindedly. "Gan Fall is still alive despite being such an old man. I believe we will soon have to fight the Blue Sea people who'll be getting in our way sooner or later. I, God, see that those humans are a threat."

"Should we let the White Berets deal with them?", the odd-haired and dark-skinned priest suggested.

"Yahaha!". The Lightning man's expression turned serious after his unique laugh. "No, leave them be for now, we will eventually battle them when the time comes. You can leave now."

"Understood!"

With that, the Logia's followers turned around and returned to their ordeals on Upper Yard, preparing for the inevitable battle.

…

Time had passed, and the Straw Hats minus Nami who went on a tour were enjoying lunch made by Sanji in their new friend Conis' house. They'd met her on Angel Beach, her father Pagaya shortly after, who almost crashed his waver into them.

" _Is everyone alright?"_

" _YOU'RE THE ONE WHO CRASHED!"_

While the former royal prepared delicious sea food from the White-White Sea, Pagaya offered the 18-year-old ginger to repair the waver they had found back in the Blue Sea on the St. Briss, and Conis introduced various dials to the pirates.

Outside the window, Luffy and his friends heard the orange-haired shout. "Guys, I found a new island!"

Her nakama sped down to her after finishing lunch. "Eh, Nami, I was just about to say I wanted to go there!", the pirate captain joyfully declared.

Just then, the two Skypieans came towards them from the stairs leading to their house. "You want to go to Upper Yard?", the angel-like girl asked, worried.

"Is there something wrong about it?"

"Well,", she began. "Upper Yard is home to Skypiea's god and his soldiers, Enel. He doesn't like intruders. Also, the Shandians see Upper Yard as their home, and they'll attack foreigners as well as God's priests. It's not the safest place around."

The cowardly trio felt shivers going down their spines and sweat down their faces. "L-luffy, you sh-"

"No!", the boy with his red captain's coat firmly interrupted, bearing a determined look on his face. "I won't take any objections! When it comes to adventure, it's me who decides!"

Pagaya took out a bag from his map and showed it to his guests. "This is a map of Upper Yard. It's about 200 years old, but it'll still do. That is the sacrificial altar, that is the Giant Jack, and that is Shandora."

Nodding, the intelligent navigator reached out for the map, only for it to be snatched up by her black-haired captain.

"Luffy, what was that for?! I'm the person who handles maps!", the money-lover yelled.

Silently, the King's haki user shook his head and turned around. "Sorry about that, I will return it soon, just wait for us while Usopp and I check up on Sanji who's preparing bento for our upcoming adventure. You can wait on Merry with Zoro, Robin and Chopper."

Without a word, the Cocoyasi Villager returned to her favourite ship along with the green-haired, raven-haired and brown-furred.

"This Upper Yard area sounds exciting, can't wait for the battles we'll fight.", Zoro said to Robin.

"Fufufu, I think you'd win against most opponents there, I like seeing you fight."

'Will that moss-brained idiot not stop talking about fighting? We're about to enter God's home out of all places!', Nami thought, scared about her well-being. A god must be very strong, and what if he's in a bad mood?

…

" _AAAAAH!"_

It was the second time the three staying behind heard a certain girl shout from outside the window, and this time a shout out of fear and helplessness. Two of them couldn't believe their eyes.

"What's this?! A giant red crab is pulling our Merry away!", Usopp almost screamed.

"Nooo! Nami-swan, Robin-chwan!"

'Crap! I knew this was going to happen, but I did nothing. Of course they'll be able to hold their own, but what if they run into Enel or priests other than ball-guy early? Guess I'm too overprotective, but something needs to be done!'

"Conis, can you help us get a boat to save our friends?", the strawhat asked in a serious tone, eyes shadowed.

Upon hearing that request, the blonde girl's knees almost trembled. "Y-yes, f-follow me, I'll… I'll lead you to the docks!"

Treachery was evident in her voice, but the rubber man couldn't simply be angry with her. It wasn't the innocent girl's fault to begin with.

'Enel, your days as god are numbered!...'

* * *

 **Soooo, here you have it, after a long break! During my free absent time, I've been thinking a lot about plot, but now that I have returned to writing, things are a little more difficult due to lack of practice. Nonetheless, I will try to improve again. See you soon again!**


	19. C19: First Priest Down

**Never again!**

 **So, my second chapter after the hiatus. I hope it will be better than the first one. Thank you all like Edub102, wowlol12 and Meazm who still support my story after the hiatus, that's nice of you. Now to the answers.**

 **Answer to intata: The prologue chapters were meant to be rushed, I started adding more details chapter for chapter, that's why they keep getting longer.**

 **Answer to Theboss786: Did I? Oops, thank you for pointing this out, I fixed it.**

 **Answer to Negima Uzumaki: I'm sorry, but Going Merry can't be saved. It's still not a super ship like the Moby Dick which can stay "alive" for 5 decades or so.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**

* * *

 **Chapter 19: First Priest Down**

15 minutes earlier:

"… and to get to your friends, you need to go to the sacrificial altar via the Milky Roads.", the bald and bearded Skypiean Pagaya told his three remaining guests outside his house.

"So,", Sanji spoke, taking a drag out of his cigarette then exhaling, "you're telling us to get a boat, go to this altar via some half solid cloud-like roads that are placed all over Upper Yard, but also that there are countless traps and a good number of enemies. Am I right?"

Pagaya sweated on how exact the blond summed up his instructions. "Y-y-yes, may luck be with you."

Before his daughter left with the Blue Sea dwellers, he shot her a glance saying _"Do it, Conis, no matter what! God will spare us if you do it. And don't let them know at all!"_. This, however, didn't stay unnoticed by the wingless pirates.

…

Present timeline:

The way to Angel Island's docks was quiet – and suspicious. Every Skypiean set their gaze on the three without saying anything. Conis, who was accompanying them, acted equally suspicious, sweating constantly and rarely speaking. And when she did speak, she stuttered multiple times.

Finally, their time of departure came when they reached the end of the docks. A small black gondola with a crow as figurehead.

"T-there it is, your crow-boat. It's not as fast as a waver, but it'll do fine. It has two Breath Dials on it."

A few moments later, after some more steps without a word, the angel-like girl pointed at a red and green gate. "This is Gate #2. It will lead you to the giant Milky Road which connects to Upper Yard.", she explained, her face missing a smile. "Y-you simply need to take that."

Luffy finally had enough of this facade. He knew his friend wasn't happy being used like that, so he did what he had to do from the beginning, questioning her.

"Oi, Conis."

"Y-yes?"

"Why've you been shaking ever since we left your home?"

And in a split second, dozens of pairs of eyes struck the group of four.

Suddenly, panic appeared on the Skypiean's face. "D-does it seem that way?"

"Yeah, it's like you're afraid of something."

More and more sweatdrops built up on the winged girl's face.

"Oh oh oh", a love-struck cook raved. "Conis-chan, you're worried about us! That's so touching!"

Usopp also started questioning about what he wanted to know. "But still, are you guys going to be alright?", he asked, sounding aware of something. "Everyone in this town is plainly avoiding us, yet you're lending us a boat and even giving us directions. Doesn't that make you our accomplices?"

Seemingly, that wasn't enough for the black-haired however. "Say, you're also looking pale ever since we left your house.", the 17-year-old pointed out, stepping another step forward. "You should have told us if something was wrong, we would've come on our own too."

Now Conis was breathing heavily. "No.", she said, looking down with her teal eyes. "It's… it's not what you think!"

People staring from afar didn't add much to the quiet confrontation except sharp and stinging gazes. "No… she wouldn't!"

"It's strange, isn't it?"

The blonde finally started speaking plainly about what's really happening, looking completely unhappy about herself.

"Explaining the route to your 'ordeal', guiding you here myself… It's like I want you to lead you there, despite saying how terrifying it is."

It was that moment when all the people started backing away from them. The fighting cook, who got back to his normal state of mind again, knew, just like his two nakama beside him, that there was clearly something really wrong with all this. 'Don't tell me they're all…'

Conis then abruptly fell on her knees and was on the verge of crying, trying to hold back her tears. "Could you run away?"

In the end, she couldn't hold back her tears, and the intense revelation started. "I'm sorry! I was the one who called the Super-Express Lobster!"

"Stop!" "What are you saying?!"

Skypiea's citizens were also crying, having great fear of an intense attack of their god responding to the young girl's betrayal.

"The thing that took Nami-san and the others?! You called it?!", the Vinsmoke exclaimed, sounding more surprised than angry, despite everything happening.

"Yes… I did, and I feel so guilty! Once we know someone's a criminal, as even wanting to go to Upper Yard is a crime, we'll be killed if we don't lead them to the place of judgement!", the blonde tearfully revealed, much to the other Skypieans' shock.

"Stop it! Do you realize what you're saying?!" "You're blaspheming against God!" "Stop her!"

Without paying attention to the people other than the Straw Hats around her, Conis' tears continued flowing from her teal-colored eyes. "This is our citizens' duty… I'm sorry! It's all so strange, isn't it?"

She expected them to be angry and furious at her for her betrayal, and to an extent, they were.

"Don't be stupid!", the 160 Million Berry man shouted at her. "You didn't have any choice, right?!"

Conis nodded.

All of the three young men's faces were dark and shadowed. "Then… WHY ARE YOU TELLING US?!"

Dragon's son immediately ran up to her, sensing a lighting attack from far away. "Your life is in danger!"

Meanwhile, other Skypieans were further distancing themselves from the four. "It's all over!" "We're too late!" "Stay away from the girl!" "The judgement is coming!"

And then, finally, it started. The sky above them turned extremely bright blue, shadows appearing everywhere around. Usopp and Sanji needed to put their hands in front of their eyes to not become blind. About 6 seconds later, a blue pillar of lightning came down at the boy and girl.

Garp's grandson instinctively did what he needed to do to save his newly made friend from her ruthless god. The future Pirate King grabbed her and tightly hugged her below him, shielding her whole body from the blast of pure lightning.

During the judgement, while the Skypiean was scared for her life, the rubber man was completely unfazed. 'It's so good to have rubber powers… thank you Shanks!'

…

After the pillar of lightning disappeared, smoke covered the whole area. Neither the liar nor the pervert knew what happened or what to do.

"Luffy! Conis-chan! Where did they go?!"

"It's no use!" "The allmighty God Enel sees all!"

Ex-prince Sanji finally grew annoyed with those cowardly, selfish Skypieans. "EVERYONE, SHUT THE HELL UP! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANYTHING FROM YOU ANYMORE!"

When the smoke cleared, they got their answer. The strawhat was standing there, on a black bottom, still effectively protecting the angel-like girl from anything through a hug. The Sky Knight had also appeared beside them, surprising everyone around. "They're both fine!"

"It's Gan Fall-san!"

"Oh, that weird old man!"

Although Gan Fall didn't seem happy with that name, he let this one slide. "weird? No, I'm the Sky Knight."

The old man then turned to a certain tall boy who was still doing what his blond nakama would want to do all day. "Give the girl to me, I will not allow Enel to harm her."

"Okay"

Since Gan Fall was a good man, Luffy had no problems with entrusting him his friend.

"You now know this land's true nature as well as 'God''s power.", the old man spoke. "What will you do now?"

Putting his hat correctly back on, the pirate captain replied in a way the Sky Knight liked. "This land is none of our business, our friends are just on 'God's Island'"

"I see. May luck be with you!". With that, he flew off on his Pegasus lacking any sign of elegance, letting the Straw Hats mind their own business on Upper Yard.

…

"Yosh! I think you both know where we're going now.", the black-haired enthusiastically declared, getting on the gondola's driver seat.

"Get on, I'll give you a strong push out!", the marksman said, mildly annoying the ero-cook.

"You're coming too!"

Right then, the 17-year-old let crow-boat's Dial engines roar. "Alright, let's go to Upper Yard!"

"Nooooo…!", the sharpshooter loudly complained as the very small boat left Angel Island's docks. Upper Yard was only a question of time.

…

Bonus inbetween:

After the three went past Gate #2, the former prince took a deep breath of Sky Island's air before doing what he wanted to do for at least 3 minutes. All of a sudden, the leg fighter ASSAULTED his captain brutally, leaving bumps, bruises and blood behind.

"JUST WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK, SANJI?!", the wanted criminal screeched at his cook, his own eyes on fire and his skin hot and red.

"Don't you dare play innocent, shitty captain! You had extremely close physical contact with my Conis-chan, and touched her beautiful angel skin and the underside of her boobs. I WANTED TO DO THAT SINCE I SAW HER FOR THE FIRST TIME!"

What Sanji said was, in fact, correct, and the D. carrier knew that, but nevertheless, the Paramecia user found that not even an excuse for attacking a nakama. At first, he wanted to hit back, but after thinking it over again, the future Pirate King decided to pay him back in another way. "Zh, now I truly understand why Zoro thinks you're stupid."

Triggered by this remark, the smoker turned around and threatened the most wanted man's son. "Take that mosshead's side one more time and I'll leave your damn crew!"

"All Blue, remember?"

Defeated, the swirly-browed cook blinked twice before sighing out an answer. "Fine, you won. Sorry about earlier."

Luffy felt himself smile.

…

Halfway to Upper Yard, after sliding down a small Milky Road waterfall, its trees started to appear way bigger than they used to.

"Hey look, what's that humongous forest?!", the sniper exclaimed in surprise. "Those trees are bigger than on the map!"

"That map is from 200 years ago, right?", the cook spoke, lying relaxed on his spot. "Over time, those trees surely must've grown. And if even one tree is that big, the island must be more impressive with size."

"It's the entrance!"

In less than a second, the heads of the long-nosed and curly-browed shot forward where their captain was looking. Tribal-style entrance pillars with fire burning atop and God's Kami-mark made an entrance to Upper Yard pretty frightening. Even more frightening were rows of huge grey totem-like statues behind the entrance. What's frightening about them were not their color or size, but their teeth and the impression that all of them were watching the ones passing.

It was no wonder the darker-skinned boy had a shadowy and scared expression on his face. "I wanna go back…"

But there was no going back. Crow-boat with its passengers further and further passed into God's territory, with the area becoming more and more scary, wild animals hiding around and watching, and sliced-up ships in the water.

"Uaaah, there are things around here!"

"Well, it's a forest here."

"Yeah."

Usopp shook his head. "No, wait! Look around, you guys! There are wrecked ships, and they've all been sliced up in half."

The Straw Hat captain frowned. "Must've been one of those traps."

Shaking his head and sweating, the Syrup Villager decided to question this. "What do you mean, traps?"

"Those swinging axes with monster faces right in front of us.", the rubber man nonchalantly replied with a shrug.

"What do you mea- AAAAAGH!". The cowardly liar almost had an heart attack. Not only did his captain speak so casually about dangerous stuff like this, he had also been right. Huge axes swinging on chains with monster faces on them, a dozen of them, all capable of cutting up ships bigger than Merry, right in front of the trio.

At moments like this, Garp's grandson chose to make use of his status as captain. "Everyone, let's paddle, paddle like never before! Let's not let those stupid traps win against us!"

And they paddled, paddled, and paddled. One for his life, one for everyone's lives, and one for Nami-swaaan~ and Robin-chwaan~. Getting away was child's play.

"Phew.", the relieved marksman let out, wiping some sweat off his forehead. "We did it. We should be safe for now."

Key words: for now. Not long after the axe incident, another deadly trap went off. A certain 17-year-old screamed when a sharp spear of wood missed his head by a couple inches.

"Spears now?", the fighting cook calmly asked.

Before a massive barrage of spears struck them, the other 17-year-old took countermeasures. "Armament! Gomu Gomu no Fuusen!"

Raindrops on asphalt would be an accurate comparison. Every spear hitting solid black crumbled upon impact. There was no such thing as an injury or damage on behalf of the present Straw Hats or crow-boat.

"We made it through.", the blond proudly remarked in victory.

"Now I just hope there's no more of this…", the sharpshooter mumbled, recovering from his second shock.

Ironically, a shining light, indicating another attack, appeared from above.

"Huh, now what?", he demanded, only to be shit-scared shortly after.

A huge circular disk with sharp edges came flying towards crow-boat, and they barely dodged.

"W-w-we barely dogded!", he gasped out with a high voice.

Sanji closely observed the disk and predicted its movement. "No…", the ero-cook stated. "We didn't. It's coming back!"

"Dodge!", the curly-haired screamed, directed at the future Pirate King still calmly steering their vehicle.

Seeing how his friend didn't even move a muscle, the sniper considered jumping into the river. But Luffy did take action after all. Without looking backwards, Dragon's son stretched his left arm out, grabbing the disk with hardened fingers, thus stopping the rotation. "There you go."

Usopp gulped, practically bathing in sweat. "T-thanks, Luffy, you saved us a-". he wanted to say, but a second disk surprised him again. "AAAAAH, another o-"

And just like last time, the tall boy effortlessly stopped a deadly trap. "I guess that was the last one."

Shivers went down the marksman's spine and conflicting thoughts appeared in his brain. 'I- I simply don't know what to do! I feel helpless, unable to survive on my own. The difference of power between Luffy and me is astronomic… I don't think he deserves a weakling like me as his nakama.'

At the same time, the strawhat gained access to those thoughts through haki. It made him sad, really sad.

…

Meanwhile, deeper on Upper Yard, the abducted Straw Hats led by Zoro were trying to figure out what to do.

"Damn this Super-Express Lobster just deserting us here…", the green-haired cursed, bearing a pissed expression on his face.

"Where exactly are we?", Chopper asked while standing on Merry's railing.

"What's for certain is that it's the interior of Upper Yard.", Nami stated without worry in her voice.

Robin agreed. "It's almost as if this is a sacrificial altar."

"Sacrificial… altar?", the ginger repeated, tensing up. 'This could be worse than I thought…'

The small hybrid turned his around. "Nami, what's a sacrifice?"

"It means you're being offered to God while you're alive.", she explained.

Seemingly, the brown-furred was relieved. "Oh, that's it? I thought it was being boiled alive...", he admitted, thinking about the worst case for him.

"Actually, it's something like that.", the archaeologist announced, making the blue-nosed's eyes rapidly open. "Whatever the method, your life is given to God."

"EEEEEH?!", the reindeer-human hybrid screamed, his teeth sharp from being scared. "Does that mean we're going to be killed?!"

Suddenly, the Zoan lost his balance and fell over from the railing, constantly hitting the sacrificial altar's stairs, deeper and deeper.

"Chopper!", a worried shout from the navigator came.

Knowing what to do, the swordsman jumped from his position on the ship to save his nakama. Luckily for both, two hands sprouted from the last stair step already saved the latter. Still, not all threats were gone. A huge skyfish with dark blue and black stripes resembling a shark lunged at the reindeer, inflicting great panic upon him. But the Shimotsuki Villager stopped it mid-air, so Chopper had enough time to escape back up.

"What is that?!", the orange-haired wide-eyed exclaimed in fear and surprise.

"A shark… in the sky… a skyshark?"

"Aaaaaaah!", the Zoan user continued screaming since then. As he arrived on top of the altar, he started shouting something else. "Zoro! Zoro!"

At the same time, underwater, the moss-haired was doing his best to defeat the skyshark. But the beast dodged him every time he was not defending. 'Damn… I'm way out of my element and can't move well as I can on land…'

A couple of times, they both jumped out of the cloud water during their battle, the Straw Hats worrying about the first mate and shouting his name. After another jump, neither of them started coming back for a longer span of time.

"Zoro isn't coming back up!"

"Do you think…", the 18-year-old began in shock, "he got eaten?"

"AAAAAAAH! Zoro was eaten!", the doctor hysterically screamed.

The raven-haired didn't feel that way. "If he was eaten, the clouds would have turned red."

Nami turned her head to the right. "How can you say something so scary so calmly?!", she furiously snapped at the blue-eyed.

Just then, unexpectedly, the skyshark came flying out of the water, a bump on his head, Zoro following immediately after with a raised fist. "I'm so sick of you!". The 19-year-old then landed on the sacrificial altar's bottom stairs, and the skyshark right beside him, tears flowing out of his eye.

"This is bad...", the mosshead muttered while walking up the stairs. "Doesn't look like swimming outta there will do us any good."

"You punched that shark.", the Cocoyasi Villager spoke. "I thought you were a swordsman?"

"You're so strong, Zoro!"

"What happened to your so-called 'swordsman's pride' ?"

"Will you quit nagging about everything?!", he finally yelled at her in annoyance.

Suddenly, at least three more skyshark fins appeared on the surface.

"There wasn't just one! There's a whole swarm of skysharks!", the reindeer doctor loudly observed, again with sharp teeth.

"Can't even swim to the shore like this.", the 60 Million Berry man complained, wringing out his wet white t-shirt.

"Though we can't just sit here either.", the 28-year-old added.

From above, the money-loving ginger threw a dark blue sleeveless shirt at the muscular man. Much to his annoyance, it landed on his head. To put it on, the mosshead turned his head to the right as he put his left arm into the shirt's non-existing sleeve. While doing that, he noticed a huge hull on Going Merry.

"This is bad. We can't set sail with a hull like this.", the green-haired observed, lifting his head again. "Try to fix the ship somehow, Chopper!"

"Eh? Me?! Okay."

"Fix it?", the orange-haired inquired, surprised. "Are you planning to do something?"

"I'm gonna get into this forest somehow.", the swordsman answered. "We should probably make this our base of operations. I'm sure Luffy and the others are headed here in search of us. It's like they say, 'If you get lost, stay where you are'."

Sweatdropping, the navigator pointed at the vice-captain. "Especially you!"

Without a second thought, the moss-haired shrugged her words off and approached the Oharan. "Oi, can you possibly get me something to go ashore without having to touch the water, like a vine or something?"

"Yes, sure.", the tall and slender woman replied, providing him with that vine without any problems. "Swordsman-san, mind if I join you?"

"Huh?", No, but don't be slowing me down.", the mosshead said.

That, of course, caught the 18-year-old girl's attention. "Hold on! Where are you going, Robin?!", she shouted, complaining about not wanting to be left alone with Chopper.

"Searching for history.", the tanned woman announced, exited about this theme. "At least a thousand years have passed since this altar was built, and there are many more historic relics that are waiting for me. Perhabs some jewel fragments would help our ship and budget."

Hearing that, a smirk formed up on the Cocoyasi Villager's face. "I'm coming too!"

"Eh?! After you were so scared?!", the blue-nosed yelled at her in disbelief with sharp teeth.

Berry-signs appeared in her eyes. "It's for historical investigation."

'She literally has Berry-signs in her eyes…'

Zoro, who was ready to jump, cleared his throat a couple times. Then he jumped off, letting out a Tarzan shout. "AAAAOOAOOAAAH~!"

A certain orange-haired both sweatdropped and cringed. "What… is this…?"

Then, after Robin's turn, it was hers, and she was visibly afraid. "Oh man, it's so high…"

"It's about 50 meters.", the ex-scholar informed. "Mess up and you'll die."

"COULD YOU STOP DOING THAT ?!"

Few more seconds passed, and the Straw Hat navigator jumped. As she gained more and more speed, she came to a realization. "Wait, IT'S TOO FAST! I CAN'T STOP!"

Just before crashing into a tree, at least 6 hands safely stopped her. "T-t-thank you…"

"See, you have guts.", the Buster Call survivor nonchalantly spoke, walking forward.

"That's what you get for not saying 'AA-AA-AA'."

"IT'S NOT THE ISSUE HERE!"

When the first mate walked off too, he entrusted Merry to Chopper. "You're in charge now, Chopper!"

"We're counting on you!"

"We'll be back soon!"

Chopper waved them goodbye. "Right! Be careful, everyone! Come back safe!"

After 20 seconds, when the three were far away and small as ants in the hybrid's eyes, he admired them once more. "I'm too scared to go… Everyone is brave and amazing! I wonder if I'll be as brave someday too…"

"Anyway, I'll do everything I can now!", the 15-year-old declared, turning around. "Being all alone and in charge of the ship in this dangerous forest is enough proof that everyone trusts me. I gotta do my best!"

He then grabbed Usopp's tool box and started moving. "I just wonder what Luffy and the others are doing now…"

…

"Awww, Sanji!", Luffy loudly complained, pouting. "Why can't we take those two giant loaches you just knocked out with us? I'm sure you'd do something super yummy out of them."

"Because,", Sanji explained, "each of them are as big as Merry. Do you think crow-boat can pull both of them?!"

Realizing it's not possible, the black-haired gave up on that. "But I still want something to eat!"

"Geez, you damn glutton…"

"Guys!", Usopp alerted them, focusing on a large grey building in front of them. "There's a huge scary statue and four different entries!"

"Don't tell me they're each leading to four different places!", the blond muttered, unsure what to do.

As the trio got closer, the darker-skinned was able to identify the kanji on each of the entrances. "Swamp ordeal, Iron ordeal, String ordeal, Ball ordeal."

That confused the cook a little. "Four ordeals, and we can choose to go into any of those, huh? Does God want to play a game with us?!"

Widely smirking, the 17-year-old pointed at the entrance on the right. From the beginning, he knew what to choose. "Let's choose ball, it sounds the least frightening and most fun!"

"Is that your reasoning?!", the long-nosed snapped at his captain, upset about the 'fun' part, since it was an ordeal nonetheless. However, after fantasizing about the scary possibilities of the other ordeals, he came to an agreement. "But yeah, I agree it sounds the least frightening."

And so, they steered into that ordeal's entrance, where a long dark tunnel surprised them.

After a while, the leg fighter spoke up. "Man, this tunnel doesn't seem to have an end. I'm getting suspicious, maybe this entrance right here is a trap."

The curly-haired shuddered. "We can't turn back now, can we?"

"Ahahahahaha!", the strawhat laughed out joyfully. "Relax, we aren't gonna fall off Sky Island.", he told, which was technically true.

"We better not!", the sniper angrily yelled with sharp teeth. "You could reflect on your life multiple times on your way down!"

"Right.", the fighting cook joined in. "That's obviously not gonna happen."

Seconds later, directly after reaching the tunnel's end, two of them had to realize they were wrong, as the trio fell off a huge waterfall. The sharpshooter's heart almost stopped beating, and the Vinsmoke never had a more comically shocked face. Everything seemed like moving in slow-motion.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

"AHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

 ***SPLASH!***

Crow-boat's landing made all the birds on the trees fly away from that sound.

Still having to breath hard, the marksman and ex-prince were recovering from the shock. "*pant* we're… *pant* still alive…!"

"Ahahahahahaha! Ahahahahahaha! That was so cool and scary, I haven't had this much action in a looooong time!", the future Pirate King let his nakama know, which wasn't a good idea.

"You dumbass!", the former royal shouted, kicking the rubber man multiple times in the head, which had no effect, since he was made of rubber. "That was all your fault, misleading us like that!"

…

10 minutes later:

Slowly, crow-boat was moving on a forest road again. Everything seemed calm, even when big, floating white balls appeared out of nowhere after a simple turn to the right.

'Ah, it's just ball-guy again. I'll let Sanji deal with him, he's not worth my energy.'

"Hmmm", a recovered Sanji mused. "These are 'island cloud' balls. I don't know what they are there for, but stay sharp. They might be traps."

On the rear side of the boat, Usopp, still not fully recovered, was lying on the ground. "Y-you t-think so?", he croaked out, barely moving his mouth.

"Yeah.", the blond spoke, carefully observing the area. "It's still an ordeal, right? Think about it, who would let criminals just pass? What's also bothering me, is that no priest is around. Don't get me wrong, it'd be nice if we didn't get to see a priest, but there are four priests, and I thought we'd be encountering one after entering through a gate."

Suddenly, a ball directly up front came flying towards crow-boat. "Oh, one of those balls is in our way.", the curly-browed casually said, not thinking of anything especially dangerous. "I'll just take care of that."

Dragon's son, knowing the truth about the balls, tried to stop his nakama from endangering them, but it was too late.

 ***BOOM!***

Dark smoke formed around the trio, dirtying their hair and clothes. The fighting cook coughed.

"What's the deal with these balls?!", the long-nosed exclaimed, danger apparent to him.

3 seconds later, an annoying laugh combined with an annoying voice sounded from above. "Ho ho-hooo~! There's no telling what will come out!"

Another 3 seconds later, the owner of the voice revealed himself, a round ball-shaped not-so-manly man with red hair in white clothing, Satori of the Forest. "Thank you for choosing my ordeal! Ho ho-hooo~!", he said, grinning wide like a child, yet still looking smug.

Enel's priest expected to appear menacing and impressive in front of the trio, but all of the adventuring pirates were left sweatdropping.

"Who's this dumpling freak…?"

"As pathetic as it sounds, one of 'God''s priests…"

Even the lying coward of the Straw Hats was disappointed. "I thought those priest were strong and terrifying… we might have an easy game."

"Spot on.", the leg fighter remarked with all honesty.

…

"Ho ho-hooo~!", Satori laughed out, still dumpling around on one of his surprise balls.

"This guy's dumber than I thought!", Yasopp's son furiously hissed at Garp's grandson, who couldn't do anything but agree.

"So true, we sure won't get any useful information out of him. Sanji, deal with him fast!", the pirate captain ordered, not wanting to waste any time. "But beware, he has haki."

Upon ordered, the skilled chef used Geppo to quickly reach the priest. "Oi, Dango (Dumpling)! Nami-san and the others are okay, I hope?!", he shouted, angry about the kidnapping.

"Do you mean the sacrifices? If so, I wouldn't know. Even if they're alone, they're going to die! Even if they managed to escape, they're still going to die! Ho-hooo~!", the priest informed the Vinsmoke, completely ignoring his foe was running on air.

Hearing that response, the ex-prince's eyes closed, showing he's further angered and ready for a fight with haki. "Never talk about our nakama's death like that!", he yelled enraged, preparing a hard attack.

"Collier!", the former royal exclaimed, trying to kick the Dango man's neck. Possessing Observation haki, the ball-shaped male dodged the fierce attack, but what he didn't expect, was a kick to his shoulders at the spot where he evaded to. "Épaule!"

"Aaaaaaagh!", the ball-like priest screamed out, holding his shoulder in pain. "I used my Mantra! How did you hit me?"

"A magician doesn't show his secrets.", was the ex-royal's reply. "Now, back to where we were, shitty Dango! Basse Côte!"

Once again, Satori did his best to escape the former attack, but was mercilessly hit by the latter. "Longe!"

"Uaaaaaaargh!". Now not only his right shoulder, but also his back hellishly hurt.

'Come on, think Satori, what is happening right now? I use my Mantra to escape his first attacks, but his second attacks hit me where I escape to… If I don't escape the first one…'. The red-haired priest now had a lewd and devilish smirk on his face. 'Satori, you're a genius! Yes, I'm a genius!'

Surprising the curly-browed, Enel's fourth priest stretched out his right left hand, standing with confidence. "What're you doing, awaiting me to kick you, eh? If you want some, have some, shitty priest! Flanchet shoot!"

"Impact!"

Unbeknownst to Sanji, Satori had stored an Impact Dial in his left glove, and it went off as the love-cook struck his opponent's hand. The crash sent the pervert flying to the ground, and the Dumpling man into a tree, then into the ground.

Still, luckily for the former, he had two reliable nakama to help him out.

"You were amazing, Sanji!", the darker-skinned genuinely cheered, alongside a silently cheering boy with a straw hat.

"Sehhf you coumprimands foh reitah, hewp me nao! (Save your compliments for later, help me now!)", the cook scolded the sniper through his bloody mouth with missing teeth, which would magically appear back later on.

"Yosh!", the 160 Million Berry man exclaimed, putting his injured nakama back on crow-boat. "Let's meet up with the others right now!"

…

" _So, you're saying our ship was almost destroyed by a priest you failed to beat up and drive away?", the sharpshooter questioned, staring at his small nakama in a neutral expression that could quickly change._

 _Shy and scared of being punished for almost getting himself killed and Going Merry destroyed, Chopper let out a subdued whimper. "Y-yes, I'm sorry!"_

 _After 5 seconds of staring, the marksman let out a relieved sigh. "Fine, it's okay. I'm glad weren't hurt this hard. We can worry about our ship later."_

 _Hearing that, the toddler-sized doctor teared up, but that didn't last long as he was covered by positive, non-harmful flames. "I'll become a more dependable man!"_

…

At least 6 hours had passed since the Straw Hats reunited at the sacrificial altar, and now they were barbecuing skysharks at a campfire on Upper Yard. Revelations were made, like the fact that the Sky Knight had come for the hybrid's whistle call to save him from priest Shura. Unfortunately, he failed, and the reindeer had to rescue and heal him from injuries the aviator-like man had inflicted on the old man. Pierre was also present.

The team Zoro led while going on a research trip also made discoveries, as presented by Nami. "Hear me out guys, this is really important now! Zoro, Robin and I have discovered something unimaginable! On our trip, we have seen the other side of Montblanc Cricket's house! That means, Upper Yard was once part of Jaya!". She then put Jaya's map together with Upper Yard's map, revealing a skull. "Noland said in his logbook that he found the Mountain of Gold in the skull's right eye. As you see, Jaya and Upper Yard together resemble a skull, which means the mountain of gold didn't fall into the sea, but rose into the sky with the Knock Up Stream!"

Both the long-nosed's and reindeer-human hybrid's mouths were agape. "Reeeaaaallllyyyyy?!"

"That is big news!"

"Yes, it is!", the ginger confirmed, excited about all the gold. "It's here, and waiting for us."

Luffy slammed his fist into his other palm. "It's decided! Tomorrow, we go gold hunting!". The black-haired then rubbed his stomach, deciding it's clearly not full enough. "Sanji, more skysharks!"

…

Robin, after some more time passed, thought it was a good idea to tell Usopp to put out the campfire in order to hide from enemies on the island. Against her expectations, he ended up trolling her about 'someone who lived in darkness needs a campfire'. And just right after, Zoro and Sanji appeared with a huge load of wood requested by their captain to enlarge the fire.

"No! Put the wood away, Robin's right!", the navigator berated them for all the extra wood.

"Don't worry about that, Nami-swan.", the blond tried to reassure the girl, holding a torch in his right hand. "Wild animals are scared of fire anyway."

Over a dozen silhouettes of wild, carnivorous animals with fierce, eyes shining in the dark were seen in the shadows behind the ero-cook. The orange-haired noted this of course and reacted like she'd always do.

"They're even behind you!"

Suddenly, a white wolf with sharp teeth jumped infront of the Straw Hats and barked at them. The blue-nosed translated.

Most of the rant was about how the pirates were making noise and were illegally on the wolves' territory. Annoyed at this, the money-lover bonked him on the head, tensions between the animals and humans getting bad. But in the end, the wolves' leader stopped them from fighting, and they all ended up befriending each other, which led to a party by both sides.

Meanwhile, Gan Fall, who had waken up, talked to the more passive Straw Hats about Upper Yard and its origins, and how earth from the Blue Sea was considered something immensely valuable to the sky people up there, called 'Vearth'.

…

Another few hours passed, and everyone was peacefully sleeping. Overall, the night was very peaceful, but only because the next day would be big adventure and business. Calm comes before the storm.

* * *

 **Thank youuuuu~ for reading! Now to the honest stuff: I tried. Most parts of this chapter were epic scenes and sessions of the manga and anime, and I tried to make this chapter as epic too, but I failed, although I tried so hard. I had to realize that I still need some writing exercise, and that pure text can never be as epic as many frames with background sounds, music and voices. It feels… empty. Also, as a side fact, a new year of school has started for me, and I'll have less time for this story, because everything's gonna be harder. What I'm saying is, there can be at least a week before an update, but only can, it's no must. Constructive criticism allowed. Rate and review if you like.**


	20. C20: A Friendly Ghost

**Never again!**

 **This chapter is going to be big, VERY big, so it'll take me lots of time for writing. But you, most of my readers, will like a very long chapter anyway, so it's fine by me. Have fun reading!**

 **Answer to Anon Reader:** **I understand your point, but as you've read all the chapters, I guess, you should've realized I'm writing as the all-knowing author. I'm not writing from Luffy's POV, so he does not know some things, but we, the readers/watchers of the canon story itself know it. Also, 'Usopp, Usopp, Usopp, Nami, Nami, Nami, Luffy, Luffy, Luffy' etc would be pretty boring, so I simply have to not use one way of addressing all the time. Now to your part about Merry. Just like you, some of my readers will not like it, but the Going Merry we know cannot be saved, and won't be either. Key words: the Going Merry** **we know**. **You can start to think about what I mean, in a few months, it'll be revealed. Thanks for your reply.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**

* * *

 **Chapter 20: A Friendly Ghost**

Deep in the night, everyone partying with the wolves a few hours ago was asleep – except for two and a half men.

One man had to take a piss, but was too scared to go alone. The other man noted a familiar, yet mysterious presence nearby with his Observation haki, and the final man was only half-awake, telling the first man to leave him alone and take a leak in the dark forest himself.

'Man, this is bad!', Usopp thought, sweating out of fear. 'I don't want to go alone into this scary, freaky, creepy forest by myself, and there's no one left I can ask to accompany me. The girls would refuse, Sanji too, Chopper would be scared himself, and Luffy, like Zoro, would tell me to man up and go myself. Maybe if I move quiiiiiietlyyyyyy~ and faaaaaaast~?'

Then, after turning his head, the sniper saw his captain rubbing his eyes from waking up. 'Ahh, Luffy's awake and looks like he'll stand up right away – I'm so lucky!'

"Huh, Usopp? Didn't know you were awake.", Luffy tiredly muttered, putting on his red captain's coat. "I have to check something 'round here, what about you?"

"I- I-", the sniper stuttered, too embarrassed to admit it. "Can I stick close to you?"

The strawhat shrugged. "Fine, but it'd be better if you stayed behind."

Nodding in sweat, the sharpshooter gave his response. "Don't have to tell me twice."

…

It had been short, the walk to this mysterious presence. Only a couple of trees, and they were at their destination, the coast around the sacrificial altar. To the messy-black-haired's surprise, that presence he was looking for was on the sacrificial altar, exactly on Going Merry's right. Now that he and a further scared marksman approached the silent coast through the thick fog, a silhouette appaering to repair their lovely ship with a hammer came into their vision. 3 seconds later, 'it' turned its head and smiled like an innocent child, leading to two different reactions.

'Franky told me about this… if you care enough for a ship, its Klabautermann will show itself during that ship's hard times, and somehow fix it. This means… that is Merry's Klabautermann!', the mentally 29-year-old thought, both saddened and happy about this phenomenon.

"G-ghost… A GHOST!", Yasopp's son quietly exclaimed, pulling his fellow 17-year-old's captain's coat with the message _"Let's get out of here, Luffy, ghosts are scary!"_

However, against the curly-haired's expectations, the tall boy stood there, not moving a muscle. "Usopp…". His voice was filled with anger, disappointment and annoyance. "If you can't face a friendly ghost, then how can you become a brave warrior of the sea?!"

"How can you tell it's friendly?!", the coward yelled at him in a low tone, bearing a tick mark. "Your haki-stuff again?!"

Dragon's son shook his head in grave disappointment, then glared at his nakama. "You don't need haki to tell, you just _know_!"

Basically, the pirate captain ordered his third member to think about it, and _realize_ that ghost was a friend. 'It' was a nakama having been with them since Syrup Village.

Garp's grandson now proceeded to talk to his ship's spirit, after shortly feeling guilty for its 'body''s fate. "Hey… Merry… how are you?"

Hearing that spirit's cute, innocent child-like laugh nearly made his heart burst. "Hahaha, nice of you to ask, Captain, I'm feeling good."

Merry's lie was obvious, and the wanted criminal knew it too well, which made him anything but happy. "I know you're not, you're heavily damaged."

Despite the blunt, negative and exposing statement, Merry's Klabautermann maintained its smile. "It's okay, really, it's okay. At this point, no one can save me anyway."

The 160 Million Berry man almost grimaced, knowing the sad truth. He even held onto his heart to prevent his tears from flowing. "What can I do for you t-"

"Nothing.", Merry firmly answered, slightly serious. "It doesn't matter anyway, I don't have much time anymore."

"to make you happy in your last days?"

Now Merry's expression changed too, as a consequence of the ship feeling conflicted. Roughly 9 seconds later, after pure silence, its smile went back up. "Just be happy with your nakama on me, nothing more. Seeing you guys happy is the only thing that makes me happy."

"Okay.", the young pirate weakly let out, walking away. "I'll fulfill your wish, Merry."

With that, the future Pirate King left, his head hanging down, depressed.

…

Meanwhile, the liar was even more depressed. Not only did he learn his long-time friend's and love interest's most sincere gift was actually a living thing and a nakama all the way back from East Blue, but that living thing was dying, and he was unable to do anything to save his precious little ship. The long-nosed knew Going Merry didn't have much time left, but he deeply refused to call another ship his home and friend.

After taking a piss, the skinny darker-skinned boy left without a word, and would not speak to anyone for a long time.

…

Next morning, all but two Straw Hats were really surprised when they arrived at the coast, looking up at the sacrificial altar. "Going Merry's been repaired!"

When they stepped on Merry, especially Usopp noted various changes. 'Hmmm, I hate to admit it, but those repairs suck, yet are all much better than my repairs! I seriously need to learn how to be a shipwright.'

"Strange…", the green-haired mumbled, holding his chin. "the only people beside us in Upper Yard are our enemies. Who would fix our ship?"

"It isn't even the flying model anymore.", Sanji observed, carefully looking around.

"Who cares anyway?", Nami spoke up, not caring, upsetting some of her nakama. "If someone destroyed Merry, I'd be worried too, but that's not the case, so get going, we have lots to do!"

Robin frowned. "I agree with you on that, Navigator-san, but how do we get the ship off this altar?"

Silence befell the navigator. "I… I don't know, does anyone else have an idea…?", she asked, not knowing what to do.

"I have an idea.", the most wanted man's son stated, walking up close to the small vessel. "I'm gonna lift Merry and throw our little lamb into the water."

Most of the crew sweatdropped at that. 'He can't be serious…'

But he was. The rubber man effortlessly lifted Going Merry and threw it into the bay, leaving all of his crewmembers astonished, some more than others. 'Yosh, that must've done less damage than Usopp's method last time.'

In disbelief, everyone but the archaeologist shook their heads. 'This is crazy, yes, this is crazy!'

"Aren't you coming guys?", the insanely strong boy asked, acting like what he did moments ago didn't happen at all. "What about the gold-hunting you were going to plan, Nami?"

'I've seen it all, he's unbelievable!', a certain group of five thought, walking down the altar's stairs, a fufufu-ing woman trailing behind them.

…

"Okay everyone, here's the plan!", the ginger called, drawing some lines and arrows on Upper Yard's map. "You guys go to the skull's right eye and get some gold, while me and two others use the ship to provide us a getaway at the ruins' beach area. After all this, we'll be super rich pirates!"

Chopper was astonished by the orange-haired's selfish plan. "You wanna get all the gold without doing anything? You're so weird, Nami!"

Annoyed, she turned her head to the reindeer. "Huh, did you say something?"

Not wanting to make her angry, the hybrid slowly backed away, shaking his head and sweating. "N-no, nothing…"

"Getaway? Sounds good to me!", the sniper piped up, making sure not to enter the large forest.

One minute later, the teams were made up, with Luffy, Zoro, Chopper and Robin in the woods, and Sanji, Usopp and Nami on the ship.

"Let's meet safely at the eastern coast!"

"YEAH!"

…

10 minutes later:

Contrary to his expectations, the large tropical forest wasn't that creepy. The reindeer-human hybrid mostly walked with the Oharan, having a rather scientific conversation with her, soon changing the topic. While Luffy and Zoro were arguing on how right isn't west, the blue-nosed made a confession.

"You know, I feel safe together with you three, but something has been bugging me since not long ago. I really feel like those big roots with weird patterns are moving.", he admitted, nervously shifting his antlered head.

The former scholar nodded. "You're right, for some reason, I also feel like we're being observed, or even followed by someone. Maybe those weird roots. There are many scary, grotesque things weird, big roots can do to a person-"

"I DON'T WANT TO KNOW ANY OF THESE!", the brown-furred yelled with sharp teeth, scared about even one thing, which was justified the way she talked.

Unfortunately for everyone, that scream had alerted the roots, which turned out to be a snake, a crazily huge, blue, scary snake. Once the Master of the Sky, Nola, growled at the four, the Straw Hats knew, they had to fight her to continue, because otherwise, she wouldn't let them.

"Dammit! I just learned right isn't west, and now this huge-ass snake wants to eat us! I should just turn it into some fillet!", the swordsman shouted in a furious tone, drawing his swords.

"Wait!", the pirate captain commanded, holding his first mate back with his hand stretched out. "You can't fight him, not as of now. Leave it to me."

At great speeds, the extremely venomous python rushed towards the four, surprising three of them with her immensely impressive speed, especially for her size. At the last moment, shortly before Nola could bite with her massive teeth, the black-haired stopped the reptile with his King's haki. "We are not your enemies, and we aren't food either. Back off!"

Intimidated by the strawhat's menacing King's haki, Nola retreated, clearing their path.

"Sugoooi, you're amazing, Luffy!". The 15-year-old gratefully cheered, stars in his eyes. However, his next decision made the doctor exclaim in panic.

"Everyone, listen up.", he spoke, sounding extremely serious, mature and leader-like. "We should split for now. You may ask why, but trust me, I know what I'm doing."

"EEEEEEEH?! B-but Luffy, what if that snake attacks us again?"

"It WON'T. I can 100% guarantee that.", the 17-year-old confirmed, turning his head back away from the Zoan user. "I trust you, stay safe."

With that, the four Straw Hats split into three groups, going into three different directions, and awaiting three different high-ranked opponents.

…

Alongside a raven-haired woman, a certain rubber man was walking southwards, humming a cheerful melody.

"Captain-san, why did you come with me of all people? Not that I complain, though.", the Buster Call survivor curiously asked.

"Chopper wants to become a reliable man, so he can prove it, by surviving this forest. This may sound cruel, but it's _nothing_ compared to what my grandfather put me and my brothers through. Zoro wants to become the world's greatest swordsman, and out of all the people here, there surely must be some opponents he can defeat. I tagged along with you for two reasons, mainly because I don't want to get lost. My sense of direction is better than Zoro's but still terrible.", the 160 Million Berry man answered.

"How terrible?", the 79 Million Berry woman inquired, blinking two times.

Shrugging, the boy in red gave his answer. "I know the most basic things, and that's it. In my previous life, I thought it was north where it's cold, and south where it's warm. To some degree, it would make sense, because I come from East Blue, where it's cold up north, especially on the North Pole, and warm down south, where it's closer to the tropical Calm Belt. But then again, there's the South Pole, and to people in South Blue and West Blue, it's colder down south, and warmer up north."

"Fufufu, you always have to look at every aspect of things.", the blue-eyed laughed.

…

God's Shrine, Upper Yard:

Sitting on his comfortable throne, a small multi-coloured couch, a certain pale and very tall man was musing about events happening at that time. "Hmmm, the Shandians have invaded Upper Yard, and the Blue Sea people have split up even further."

Then, instantaneously, a mean grin appeared on his face. "What a lively day, huh? But who will survive…? Let the survival game begin! Yahahahaha!"

…

Very far off the original route, a moss-haired swordsman was losing his patience. He'd been trying his new flying slash, but no enemies strong enough for the mosshead to test it on them crossed his road, and the slash itself wasn't nearly as perfect as the 19-year-old imagined it to be.

"What a pain! The skull's right eye is nowhere in sight, and there's no one for me to test my newest flying slash! If m-"

All of a sudden, a loud war cry came from his right. As the Shimotsuki Villager turned his head, he eyed a Shandian running towards him with a spear held up high.

"A guerilla! Seems like he wants to fight!", the first mate observed, getting in a fighting stance.

"Die!", the tribal warrior exclaimed, quickly shut up by a fist to his face.

"Who the hell are you guys?!", the green-haired complained next to the unconscious Shandian, wondering why they were attacking him and his nakama for no reason.

Then Zoro turned his head, and noted another man, but not speaking to him or antagonizing him in any way. That man was goat-like, with white clothes, horns, and long earlobes. Standing on a tree trunk, the goat-like man was looking at the opposite directions, begging for his life. "Please, forgive me! I give up! I give up, I lose! Please don't kill me!"

Too bad for the divine soldier, his killer didn't accept any of his please, shooting the horned man before revealing himself by jumping from his spot.

"Another one?!", the swordsman called in surprise, warily regarding the new man, a tall gunslinger with broad muscles wearing a dark green jacket and a straw-like hat covering half of his head. The tribal decorations and wings confirmed his Shandian origin.

"Hey, if you ain't a priest, don't be attacking me! I'm in a hurry!"

The Shandian attacked anyway, without a second thought, not listening to the Blue Sea man's words. Blinding lights came out of his pistols' barrels before the bullets, with the moss-haired barely dodging. In a flash, the guerilla moved to another spot, a tree branch, just to repeat what he did earlier, just with more bullets.

"Bastard! What the hell are those flashing pistols?!", the 19-year-old yelled in sweat, his teeth gritted, realizing that man was much stronger than the enemies he fought before, and a force to be reckoned with.

What the Shimotsuki Villager didn't know, was that the Shandian warrior, Braham, leaves to another spot immediately after shooting his rounds, while the one attacked can't see him. The mosshead learned this the hard way, being kicked in the torso unexpectedly.

Although it didn't hurt much, he was still taken by surprise. " ***cough*** You're fast!"

"And you're tough.", Braham nonchalantly admitted, giving his opponent's strength some respect. "I apologize. I underestimated you, Blue Sea person."

Throwing his bag to the side, the first mate lifted his head in confidence. "No, I should apologize. I had you pegged as a small fry."

After some seconds of staring, the Shandian suddenly activated his Dial-powered skates, getting behind Zoro within a second, greatly surprising the latter.

'He didn't even step towards me!', the 60 Million Berry man thought in shock while dodging the bullets once again. 'There are all kinds of wavers and Dials, they said… He's moving forward using blasts, and his pistols are always flashing before shooting, which means, he's a skilled Dial user.'

Suddenly, after rethinking what he thought before, the green-haired had a brilliant idea. 'He uses Dials… and I use haki! Of course!'

As always during a great fight, the future greatest swordsman of the world put on his blackish-green bandana on, closing his eyes. "I have seen behind your trick!"

Dropping some sweat, the gunslinger opened his mouth in surprise, not saying a word. "But… can you do the same thing to someone who can't get blinded?"

Still with his eyes closed, Kuina's former rival got Wado Ichimonji out of its sheath and held it in a way he can make a flying slash. "Eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, mind. Those six roots of man have good, evil, and peace. And each of those have pure and impure… 36 worldly desires in a lifetime."

"Huh?", Braham let out, confused about his foe's speech. "What are you talking about?"

"I now have the barrel of a cannon pointed at you.", the swordsman calmly spoke, readying his attack. "You have pistols, I have a cannon. Power and distance-wise, my weapon is superior. You've done well… but now you die!"

"Tch.", the guerilla spat, taking this as an insult. "A cannon? Where is this weapon of yours? Have you gone mad?"

While the winged man was loading his guns with a great amount of bullets, a wide smirk formed on the moss-haired's face. "Have you ever seen a flying slash?"

"Nonsense!", the hatted warrior shouted, firing more bullets than he had fired the entire day.

"Ittoryu: Sanjuroku Pound Ho!"

Spiral-shaped air silenced the entire area for some seconds. Compressed air with sharp edges cut Braham's chest and bullets, and the force alone sent him flying. Blood running from his wound, the proud warrior collapsed on the ground, letting out a small moan of pain.

"Sorry.", the former bounty hunter silently let out, putting Wado back in its sheath. "Nothing personal, but I ain't the guy who'll die when told to."

With that, he grabbed his bag from the ground, and walked off, not a single hint of brag coming out of him.

…

Sanji was down, emotions on the Merry varying. Not long ago, it was peaceful on the small pirate ship, with Gan Fall teaching them about Dials for battle, like the Impact Dial. One moment, however, Enel decided to take a random trip and landed on Merry's railing, striking fear into the weaker Straw Hats. Despite not knowing who his opponent was, Sanji rightfully judged him as a threat, and attacked him, a grave mistake.

"Sanji-kun!", Nami exclaimed in horror, running up fast to him.

"Sanjiiiii!", Usopp screamed, fearing for his friend's life more than his own. Like Nami, he ran up to the knocked-out cook, checking his condition.

"Yahahahaha… Yahahahaha.", Enel laughed, amused by the Blue Sea people's worry about their friend.

"Hey! I can't hear his heart!", the long-nosed informed, listening to the wrong side of the leg fighter's chest.

"No way!"

"Yahahahaha! Yahahahahaha! What a foolish man. And I didn't even come here to bring you harm."

"Then why are you here?!", the old man demanded, intensely glaring at the current God, anger burning inside of him.

"Yahahaha. What a cold-hearted hello… It's truly been six long years, former God Gan Fall…"

…

At the same time, on the side, the curly-haired was crying about his nakama's 'death'. "Damn him! He… he killed Sanji!", the darker-skinned cried, tears dropping onto the fighting cook's body. "It's no use… his heart isn't beating at all! HeyWa, Sanji! Sanji! Sanji!"

Closely looking at the blond, the navigator suddenly realized the mistake the liar was making. "Wait, Usopp! That's his right side, his heart's on the left!"

Quickly, after learning the news, the sniper listened to the ex-royal's actual heart side, relieved about his survival. "Yikes! It's beating! Thank goodness, he came back to life!"

"But still,", the ginger spoke, carefully laying the former prince down, "he's still greatly injured, he could die."

"What?! Oh crap! This is bad!"

The Sky Knight lifted his gaze from the pirates and set it on the bandana-wearing god. "Enel…"

"There's no need to be indignant. It's been so long since we last met.", the pale and muscular man calmly said. "Why don't you cheer up a bit, Gan Fall?"

While the light blond-haired was laughing his unique laugh again, the liar put all his courage together and stood up to the mighty former Birkan, albeit shaking heavily. "H-hey! What the hell did you do to Sanji?! J-just try something else! My 8000 subordinates won't sit by quietly!"

Enel looked at him in disbelief, although not showing much of it, and so did the orange-haired.

"H-here. If you run away now, I'll forgive you. What do you say?"

God Enel's reaction was disappearing for one and a half seconds, confusing the ship's passengers a bit, then brutally striking down the marksman with lightning, with Usopp getting the same treatment as the ero-cook.

"Damn you!", the white-haired furiously growled, wishing he could take down his worst enemy right there.

"Remain silent… and I will do nothing… Got that?"

It was the calm, ruthless, ice cold, psychopathic eyes the Logia had at that moment, which striked more fear than ever into the 18-year-old girl's heart. She nodded obediently.

"Good."

He said that, but the Cocoyasi Villager didn't feel like that. 'Who is this guy?! What did he just do?!'

"Just what are you thinking?!", Skypiea's former god scolded, trying to retain his patience.

"Your men that I captured when we invaded this island six years ago are working hard for me.", the tyrant told, infuriating the peaceful old man even more.

"My Divine Squad…"

"They're also very strong. Truly great talent, they are. But it appears, their six years of hard labour is nearing its end. And as I'll no longer have any need for this island when they're done, I thought I'd come to bid you farewell, that's all."

A smirk then formed on the younger one's face, changing the topic of their conversation. "But the denizens of Skypiea are all fools, you know? They only view this place as a clump of Vearth."

"What do you mean?"

"The reason we forcefully took this island away, the reason the Blue Sea flies stepped foot onto this island, and the reason the Shandians are intent on returning to their home are not at all different. In other words… there is ONE thing everyone seeks on this island. It was because everyone desires the relics of Shandora, the legendary city of gold that prospered in the Blue Sea long ago!", the knowledgeable Lightning man proudly revealed.

Gan Fall was a little perplexed at this. "Gold? What is that?"

"Yahahahaha! That's what I mean by ignorant! No one living here knows of gold and its value! Funny enough, this game is the final battle. The winner of this survival game will make the bountiful gold his own."

Enel then proceeded to walk onto the railing, indicating his leaving. "Yahahahaha! Can you hear it? The sounds of this lively festival… As a matter of fact, I am a participant myself, so I must be off."

"Wait, Enel!", the Sky Knight urgently called. "The Divine Squad, are you going to free them?"

One last time before disappearing, he looked back. "God only knows."

"Wait, Enel!". But it was too late.

Nami, still scared of the wingless man's powers, was relieved. Now she could treat her nakama's wounds without interruption.

…

Or not?

"Ho ho-hoooo~" "Ho ho-hoooo~"

Two new figures stepped on the railing, two fat, ball-shaped, stupid-looking twins with annoying laughs.

"What?! Who are you?"

"Don't gives us 'what'!", one of them harshly answered, dumpling around and singing like his brother.

"We're the Deputy Divine Commanders~!"

"How dare you kill our brother Satori?!"

"How dare you!"

Nami couldn't help but sweatdrop. "What?! I don't know any brother of yours!"

"Ho ho ho ho-hoooo~!"

"Don't play dumb! My name is Hotori!"

"My name is Kotori!"

"You guys killed our brother! Ho ho-hooo~"

"Like I told you, I don't know what you're talking about!", she furiously snapped at them, losing her patience.

"Satori was one of Enel's priests.", the old man informed the money-loving navigator, calming her down. "He guarded Illusion Forest."

Finally, the ginger came to a realization. "Then, the priest Luffy and the others defeated, was…"

"Yes, their elder brother."

"See? You do know!"

"You must paaaay!"

"Pierre!"

Upon hearing his master's order, the pink bird threw Gan Fall his lance. The orange-haired also got her weapon out.

"Stay back girl, t-"

"No!", the Cocoyasi Villager interrupted him, a determined look on her face. "Sometimes even I… have to protect these guys!"

Understanding, Skypiea's former god switched his gaze back to the Dango brothers. "Very well. First, ascertain their Dials."

"Okay!"

Meanwhile, Hotori and Kotori were dancing arm in arm. "We're going to avenge our brother~! Ho ho-hooo~"

"I've had enough of this! Thunderstorm Tempo!"

Electricity surged through the bodies of the Dango duo, defeating them quick and easily. Even the Sky Knight was impressed, grabbing them and throwing them into the Milky Road.

"You did wonderfully, girl."

"Yes!", Nami cheered, proudly holding her Clima Tact. "We protected our ship and crew!"

Following that, they sailed on, looking after the injured.

…

Close to the ruins, Chopper was wandering around, looking for his nakama. All the time, he'd been hunted either by the Shandians, or the Divine Squad. After finally having found some peace, he hoped to reunite with at least one of his nakama, in hope of not having to run again. "Oiiii, guys! Where are you? Is anyone here? It's me!"

At the same time, Priest Gedatsu, who had his eyeballs rolled back, tried to look at the reindeer and say something, but his mouth was closed as well. 'A tanuki…'

A divine soldier standing beside Gedatsu patiently told his master what he obviously was doing wrong. "Gedatsu-sama! You must open your eyes to look forward."

Instantaneously, his eyeballs rolled back to their normal position, and his mouth opened too. "How careless of me!"

Fulfilling his duty as Upper Yard's priest, the dark-skinned man then walked over to the reindeer-human hybrid, trying to cross his arms, accidently rolling his eyeballs backwards again. "Where? Where are you, tanuki? Hmhm, hmhmhm!"

The blue-nosed turned around, and to the doctor's shock, he saw a scary-looking man, not because of his appearance, but because of his stupid actions.

"Aaaaah, what's this?!". Grabbing a stick, the brown-furred poked the priest into the face, then into the nose. The latter was, of course, enraged, but due to having his mouth closed, the odd-haired couldn't answer.

It took the goofy priest 10 seconds to open his mouth. "Where did you disappear to?"

Gedatsu's stupidity made Chopper visibly confused "Eh?!"

'A concealment technique?', the idiot thought, turning his head around twice, not knowing this would give him the ability to see again.

'Oh! His eyes are rolled back in his head! That's so scary!'

"Gedatsu-sama! You cannot see the enemy with your eyes rolled back!", the goat-like soldier explained, trying to stay calm.

Realizing his 'carelessness', the Birkan's eyes opened up wide. "How careless of me!"

His opponent's outright stupidity now completely baffled the 15-year-old. "Haa?! Is he an idiot?!"

After his surprise faded two seconds later, the Zoan's face got serious, so did he himself. "An enemy?! I guess so, huh?! Are you a priest?"

" _Indeed I am! Heso! My name is Sky Punk Gedatsu, priest of the allmighty God Enel. I am in charge of Upper Yard's 'Swamp ordeal'!",_ he answered, unable to speak out loud due to having his mouth closed.

"Huh?! Say something, you jerk!", the Zoan user yelled, losing his patience with the priest.

"Gedatsu-sama! He cannothear you unless you speak out loud!"

"How careless of me!"

"Is that something you normally forget?!"

…

One moment to another, the comicality stopped, and even Gedatsu got serious. "You had best watch your step! This is already my territory! We are surrounded by swamp clouds. Once you get caught by one of them, you cannot escape on your own! The survival rate here is 50%!"

"Swamp?"

"The Swamp ordeal!", the priest called, sinking inside the swamp clouds.

"You're sinking?!", the hybrid exclaimed, horrified by his foe's severe lack of intelligence.

"Fool! It has no effect on me!", the dark-skinned shouted, activating some Dials. "Swamp cloud… Milky Dials!"

And he flew up high into the air, thanks to the Dials stored inside his shoes. Rather than exclaiming in fear, Chopper found this gadget unbelieveably cool. "Sugoooi! He's shooting stuff out of his feet to fly! So cool!"

Now the winged man also started shooting out clouds from his gloves, forming one big cloud. "A single tanuki will be no trouble at all! Take this! Numagumo Burger!"

As the cloud rapidly descended, the odd-haired proudly told about his technique. "With the weight of a cloud, and the properties of swamp, once you touch it, there is no hope for survival!"

However, contrary to the Birkan's aim, the attack cloud flew towards his subordinate, a goat-like divine soldier. "Gedatsu-sama! No, I'm not the one you're-"

That swampy, merciless cloud didn't let the innocent soldier finish. It landed on his head, and prevented the man in white to breathe. Gedatsu's victim tried to get it off by pulling on it, but failed miserably. The Blue Sea doctor watched in horror as the technically wrong man collapsed.

"Numagumo Burger!"

Again, Gedatsu threw a swamp cloud as a deadly attack, this time at the reindeer. If the hybrid hadn't run, he would've died.

"Uaaaaaaaah! Yikes! If one of those hits me, I'm dead!", the blue-nosed screamed, eyes bulged out and teeth sharp out of fear.

He ran to the almost dead divine soldier, and pulled him out of the cloud, wanting to help as a doctor. Transforming into Heavy Point, the reindeer-human hybrid started hitting the unconscious man's chest to make him spit out swamp cloud water. "Breathe! Don't die!"

And he didn't die. The 15-year-old successfully saved his temporary patient, getting him on his side. "Thank goodness, you're alive!"

"*Cough* I owe you my life…", the man dressed in white weakly let out, an angry look on his face.

Gedatsu, who'd descended back on the ground was bearing that angry look too. "Being saved by an enemy… how pathetic! And you call yourself one of the Divine Squad serving God?!"

"How dare you speak that way?!", the rescued divine soldier snapped, fuming inside. "You'll pay! I'll never serve you again!"

Seemingly, the tall priest didn't care.

"I'll make you prey for my Axe Dial!", the goat-like man shouted, holding his hand with the Axe Dial forward.

"Alright, we can do it! Let's fight together!", the light brown-furred yelled, getting into the same pose, then addressing a different person. "Hey, you! You don't scare us!"

"Very well.", the Birkan spoke in a calm tone. "Jet Punch!"

Too fast to be seen, Enel's third priest landed a punch on the traitor's face, who was sent flying into a rock, thus triggering an even bigger rock to fall onto him, most likely killing him.

"The destructive Jet Dial.", the dark-skinned man explained to a Chopper who was shocked and frightened to the core. "If you accelerate your punch with it, your opponent doesn't even have time to feel his own defeat. Though the fact that it rips clothing is a problem…"

'T-this is… a priest?', the reindeer thought, sweating and shivers going down his spine. 'I have to run with everything I've got… or I'll die!'

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

He ran, as fast as he could, even staying away from the swamp clouds. But unexpectedly, the winged man appeared in front of him, scaring the infant-sized hybrid even more. "Aaaaah!"

"Where do you think you're going, tanuki? Jet Punch!"

Luckily for the reindeer-human hybrid, he managed to grab a Rumble Ball out of his bag in time, making an escape from the deadly punch possible. "Rumble! Jumping Point!"

At first he thought he could escape, but the goofy priest with odd hair caught up in no time. "So you're a Zoan Type, huh?", Gedatsu observed, slightly surprised. "Still, useless! Jet Punch!"

"Heavy Point!"

Once again, the Zoan escaped the worst, but Enel's third priest didn't waste any time. "Numagumo Burger!"

"Eh?!", the Zoan user exclaimed, shocked and surprised. "One of these things again? Guard Point!"

The Swamp cloud bounced off Guard Point Chopper, and the moronic priest really got angry. "You insolent little… Jet Punch!"

Gedatsu chased after the brown-furred, and sent him flying into some ruins with his Dial-accelerated punch. The latter wasn't feeling that well after the impact.

His fur stained in blood, the 15-year-old was lying on the ground, watching the approaching priest. 'His feet… a weak spot!' . Then, in spite of having his entire body hurt like hell, the doctor stood up, bearing a smile. He was going to turn the tables.

"You can still move?", the man in purple spat, thinking he had already won the battle.

Slow but steady, the strongest out of the weakling trio approached the Birkan, firm, determined, and lacking fear. 'This is my time… Every time, I keep running, and the others need to protect me. That's why they don't rely on me! But from now on… I will not run away… AND BECOME A RELIABLE MAN!'

Thick, humanoid fingers held on tight to the dark-skinned's purple shoes. Slowly, without realizing, the winged man would lose one of them. "You little… what do you think you are doing?!", the odd-haired furiously roared, kicking the injured pirate away.

Chopper, however, didn't give up, far from it. Transforming into Jumping Point before his Rumble Ball's effect wore off, he lept into the air.

"Sore loser.", Gedatsu snarled, thinking lowly of his opponent. "Even the air is my realm! Do you still not get it?!"

'Come!'

And he came, chasing after the reindeer. His flight wasn't as direct as he pleased, though. Thanks to the missing shoe, the priest lost control and sent himself flying into a swamp, resulting in only his legs sticking out of the Swamp clouds.

'Damn it… losing to a tanuki like that…', he thought, cursing the doctor. 'I'm stuck in a swamp… I got careless… I need to escape!'

"Escape Milky Dial!", the idiot called. It didn't take long for him to escape the swamp – but in the wrong direction. "How careless of me!"

Kohza's uncle Goro would soon meet his new business partner, a tall, odd-haired, winged moron who easily forgets his body's most vital functions. But what fun would it be, digging holes for a hot spring without a guy who can easily tame animals to do the job for the two of them.

"Yeah!", the happy blue-nosed cheered in honor of his victory, though, it was technically Gedatsu who defeated Gedatsu. "I am reliable now! I beat him, a priest!"

With that, he walked off, wanting to see his friends, and having enough of swamp. "Straight south, they said... Hopefully, no one attacks me again."

…

5 minutes earlier:

A lot closer to where she wanted to go, Robin found ruins with a good amount of historical relics and information. "A memorial for the very city itself…"

"What does it say?", Luffy asked, one of the only times he was interested in history.

"It says descendants built this after the city fell. Shandora, that was the ancient city's name.", she answered, stepping closer to the stone, touching it. "402 S.E. The city flourished over 1100 years ago, and it was 800 years ago when it fell. That matches the Void Century that's missing throughout the world. So, this island might know about the True History."

Scratching his head, the black-haired also approached the moss-covered ancient stone. "Aren't you looking for the True History?"

"Yes, I do.", the raven-haired replied, looking at her captain. "Finding out about the True History and Void Century is my life's greatest goal. I will do everything to find out about them. Perhabs we can go to Shandora, where there are probably many clues about the True History."

The 17-year-old agreed and turned right, but a snapping sound from behind prompted the two to turn around. "Who's there?"

Out of the shadows, a large and incredibly fat man with big lips and white clothing stepped forward, revealing himself. "Why hello there, cutie pie and hat boy.", he said, his chin not even moving from all the fat.

Hearing the 'cutie pie' part, the pirate duo cringed, feeling a little disgusted. "Are you another one of God's henchmen."

This question made the massive figure angry. "Henchmen? Watch your mouth!", the man ranted, feeling insulted by having been put lower. "I am Yama, Divine Commander of God Enel!"

"So?", the strawhat demanded, a bored expression on his face, not impressed at all. "What brings you here?"

But Yama didn't answer that question. "Enough talk! Meeeeeeeh!", the Divine Commander screamed, punching his arms in the air.

Using Observation haki, the rubber man predicted Enel's Commander's attacks, and he didn't like the way that winged bunch of fat would attack. "Robin, he's going to aim for the ruins, and knowing how much you value history, I think you'd want to take him out.", Dragon's son told, angering the Oharan on the inside.

"But before, we should get out of here so the battle won't harm the ruins in any way.", the tanned woman spoke, upset and furious about Yama's willingness to destroy culture.

"No… if you run away from here, he'll chase you and destroy everything in his path, and more of the ruins would go to waste. Take him out here if you wanna save that historical stuff, just like you killed that goat soldier not long ago."

She closed her eyes, and took a deep breath of the refreshing, historical air. "I will not let you swine destroy this ancient piece of culture!", the archaeologist called, facing Commander Yama.

"Very well.", he grinned, then his expression changed into that of a wild, destructive beast. "Punch Mountain!"

Having her eyes closed, the ex-scholar carefully calculated the barbarian's landing spot and how many arms she'd need to break his limbs. "Doce Fleur! Clutch!"

A disgusting cracking sound echoed in the air. Two arms for each leg, two arms for each arm, and four for the entire neck. The tall and slender woman was usually calm, but if anyone dared to destroy what she stood for, she was absolutely merciless and gratefully willing to _kill._

Even Garp's grandson, who'd seen and did some brutal shit in his former life was shocked at the outcome's way. "Whoooooa.", he let out, holding his stomach, trying not to throw up. "Did you have to kill him that way? I'm kinda feeling bad for the guy."

"There is no excuse for what he wanted to do, at least not for me.", the blue-eyed quietly hissed, putting her book back in her bag. "Shall we continue to Shandora now, Captain-san?"

"Uhh, yeah, right away.", the 160 Million Berry man replied, absent-mindedly rolling his eyes and walking southwards. He hoped to see his nakama soon again.

…

Present timeline:

"What do you mean, you're leaving?!", Nami snapped at the Sky Knight in disbelief, both scared and angry.

The Sky Knight had just told her he must leave, in order to check up on Enel's doings and his former subordinates, the Divine Squad. "Sorry about that again, but it is necessary for me. You can keep the Impact gauntlet to stay safe, girl."

In the next moment, the old man sat onto Pierre and flew away with him, leaving a disappointed girl on the Going Merry behind. Eventually, she gave up on him coming back, so the navigator went to temporarily treat the injured. "For now, I need to give these guys first aid… You're both alive, right? ... Hurry up, Chopper!"

Suddenly, a loud bang occured down the Milky Road, the sound frightening her greatly. "Uaaah! What, what, what?!"

Though, mere seconds later it only turned out to be another Milky Road, and not an explosion. On that Milky Road, there was a larger waver with 3 people inside, coming her way. The most interesting, or rather remarkable, thing about it was the stupidly loud horn.

"Heso, Nami-san!", Conis called from that waver in a cheerful tone, waving her hand.

"Conis?! What are you doing here?", Nami shouted in a surprised, yet not unfriendly manner.

"Heso!", Pagaya also called, cheerfully like his daughter.

"Mister?! You too?"

5 seconds passed in silence, and then the ginger finally yelled out her complaint. "Would you shut that horn already?!"

Pagaya complied and shut the loud horn, not that it mattered him. And simultaneously, the bearded man also held back Aisa, who wanted to exit the waver.

"Let go!"

"No, I can't let you go!"

"Let go!"

"If we go any further, we won't be able to leave alive. Didn't we agree on returning after that?"

"Let gooooooo!"

Confused by that petty argument, the orange-haired sweatdropped, then realizing she'd never seen that girl before. "Who is she?"

"Ah, this is Aisa.", the middle-aged man answered, friendly like always. "We have picked her up not long ago."

"Stay away, Blue sea scum! I am a warrior of Shandora!", the Shandian child yelled at the 18-year-old, who wasn't exactly impressed.

"So, you wanna fight me? Don't make me Impact you."

Meanwhile, Conis had discovered the heavily injured bodies of Sanji and Usopp, and reacted like any caring girl would, terrified. "How terrible! They're both charred black! They need first aid, quick!"

"In any case, I'm sorry.", Conis' father apologized, a worried expression on his face. "Set sail along the new path we came on. We used a Milky Dial to create a new river, this one should directly lead you to the White-White Sea!"

"Then couldn't you have come more quietly?!", the 18-year-old questioned.

"Oh, yes. I also have something for you.", he added, clapping his hands together.

"For me?", the money lover repeated, surprised about a gift. The Skypiean reached for something in the large waver and pulled it out, a smaller waver.

"This one's yours, the waver you brought from the Blue Sea."

Happy about her waver, the Cocoyasi Villager danced in exitement. "Wow! Really?! Thank you!"

"So, are you going to the White-White Sea now?", the winged man inquired, not wanting anything bad happening to them all.

"Uh? N-no, I can't, I promised to meet up with my friends at the eastern coast, and I need to get there. But with the four of them combined, it shouldn't take much.", Nami answered, confident about her nakama's strength.

Aisa overheard this, and proceeded to correct the female pirate, albeit in a sadder manner. "There is no group of four, only two at most."

"Eh?"

"I'm saying it because I know it.", she told, sitting on the ground.

This caught the navigator's attention. "You're using haki, or what you call Mantra up here, just like God and the priests. But how?"

"I was born to use it!", the girl revealed, tears in her brown eyes. "That's why I'm afraid… You have no idea how scary it is hearing voices disappear!"

The ginger approached the haki-using child, and leaned over to her. "Are you going to cry again?"

"I am not crying, you stupid Blue Sea person!", the Shandian almost screamed, wiping her eyes.

"Her waver broke down and we found her, just as a skyshark was about to attack.", Conis informed the 18-year-old, emphathizing with the child.

"What were you planning to do?!", the orange-haired questioned the little girl, thinking what she did before was reckless.

"I don't know.", she confessed, secretly admitting she was reckless. "But I can't just sit around, doing nothing!"

Knowing that feeling too well, the money-loving girl decided to accept that answer.

…

Some time later, after continiously walking through Upper Yard, Shandora was visited at last by the archaeologist and captain.

"This should be the entrance of the inner city.", Robin said, pointing at a large black tunnel. "But it doesn't match up with the map on the monument at all."

"Maybe because the city got shaken up by the Knock Up Stream, and some parts of it crumbled over time.", Luffy suggested, starting to walk through the tunnel. "You coming?"

"I am, do not hurry please, Captain-san.", the raven-haired spoke, following the black-haired.

One minute later, the two stepped out of it, viewing the once great city of Shandora, and a abnormally massive beanstalk going through the center of it. Giant Jack was so large, it towered over all of Upper Yard and could be compared with the Red Line, although it's still much smaller.

Quietly, the 79 Million Berry woman got near a Poneglyph-shaped rock, writing down what's standing on there in her book, while the 160 Million Berry man was wandering around, preferably towards a temple.

"This is the city of gold?!", she asked out loudly. "The size and topography are all different, but the weirdest thing is…"

Suddenly, she came to a realization and started running up the stairs of the temple the 17-year-old was walking to. "Could it be…?"

Noticing his nakama in such a hurry, the strawhat started running too, in hope of catching up with her. "Wait, Robin! Where are you going that fast?"

Upon arriving at the top of the stairs, the rubber man entered the temple and looked around, but he couldn't find the 28-year-old. Then, after hearing some scratch noises from below, he looked down, and saw a square-shaped hole within a thick layer of Island clouds. The pirate captain jumped down, landing on other Island clouds. After the soft landing, he saw the tall woman beholding ancient Shandian architecture before she ran away again.

"Robin, wait!", the future Pirate King called, but the tanned woman didn't listen, and kept running. 'What is she thinking?!'

Dragon's son kept following, running and running. He almost lost her twice, but in the end, the boy found her, standing at the end of a passage, staring at ruins.

Approaching her, the young pirate was a little mad. "Robin, what the heck?! Why weren't you listening and kept running away, I-"

To his surprise, the calm ex-scholar held up her left hand in front of his mouth, basically telling her captain to shut up. But he understood, she wanted him to look at what she saw.

And it was worth it. Those ruins looked majestic, grey and green, but it was not the color, it was the architecture, the buildings. "This is… Shandora?", the most wanted man's son asked, staring wide-eyed at the most beautiful city located in the first half of the Grand Line.

The Oharan nodded, smiling. Following that, the blue-eyed started walking down the stairs, but with a little difference. Her head was turned at Garp's grandson, still turned that way with each step, who understood the only possible meaning in this situation.

'I know what you're saying with that. _"Let's go together."._ I like that.'

With that, the D. carrier sped downwards, going together with the Buster Call survivor.

…

Three minutes had passed, and the pirate duo looked at most of the things down the square. Robin once again abruptly stopped and ran into a different direction when she saw something vastly important.

"Again? Where are you heading now?", Luffy complained, running after the archaeologist.

Having arrived at her destination, the raven-haired stopped in front of a Poneglyph, her mouth agape. "They wrote with the ancient Poneglyph symbols so easily!", the 79 Million Berry woman remarked, very much amazed by the fact. "Only the ones who made the Poneglyphs could use these symbols!"

Just then, the black-haired arrived too, standing beside 28-year-old. "Oh, it's one of these things again.", the 17-year-old mumbled, his nakama glancing at him in a warning manner, slightly angered for calling this Poneglyph a 'thing'. "Anyways, Robin, what does it say?"

"Hold our true motives in your heart and not speak of it. We are the ones who weave history… With the sounding of the grand bellfry…", she translated for him, then coming to a conclusion. "That's right! Noland's logbook did mention a golden bell here…"

Moments later, the tanned woman started walking again, telling her captain to come with him.

"The city's history was eradicated. There's no question about it! The city fought against hostility! Shandora, the city of gold, fought and fell, trying to protect that Poneglyph."

"Wow.", the tall boy spoke out, seriously impressed. "That's a genius conclusion, I love how you're so intelligent!"

Silent but still thankful about the compliment, the ex-scholar continued. "In which case, the grand bellfry located in the center of the four altars might contain the True History, the Rio Poneglyph!"

"Aaand, let me guess, you want to look for it?"

"You know me, Captain-san, that's an of course."

"Great.", the strawhat said, nodding in agreement. "I want to look for it too, but more because of the golden bell. Yosh!"

With that, the dangerous pair of Paramecia users went off, determined and a clear goal in their heads.

…

Somewhere else, not far away, Chopper realized he must climb up the giant green beanstalk to continue, which upset him greatly, but he did it anyway. Covered in dirty sweat, and mostly recovered from the battle with Gedatsu, the small hybrid climbed out of an Island cloud, liking their fluffiness. Once he stepped on stone ground again, the reindeer-human hybrid slipped and almost tripped. "What's that? Why is the ground crooked?", he wondered at first, but decided to let it go immediately. "I'll just go around then."

For the next 9 seconds, the blue-nosed walked happily on even ground, singing about how he'll be the first to get the gold. Suddenly, smoke surrounded the reindeer, animal growls sounding from behind.

"Wait, Holy!", a deep, manly voice commanded, silencing the growls. "Holy, wait!"

When the growls completely stopped, the brown-furred nervously turned around, eyeing a very large white-cream-furred dog with sharp fangs lying in front of him.

"HIYAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!", the 15-year-old shrieked, eyes bulged out and hat flying off.

'I got too carried away! I should've just gone back! I'm gonna get killed!', the doctor thought while screaming.

"You're the third one to come here…", the priest calmly spoke, his voice alone telling he's powerful.

"Eh?! Who are you?"

"The spider-head was too careless.", the bald man with black sunglasses muttered. "You killed Gedatsu, didn't you?"

'He means that guy from earlier!', the Zoan thought, remembering the goofy idiot. He gulped, thinking that man in front of him will avenge his comrade.

"No, it's all right. Being rid of a fool like him is best for the world.", he told the Zoan user, slightly laid-back. "Don't you agree?"

Hiluluk's adoptive son slowly stepped back, shuddering. After his fifth step, the pirate tripped over something, and the moment he found out over what he tripped, the naive coward freaked out. A bloodied corpse.

"Uaaaaaaaaah! Ahhhh! Aaaaaah! …", Chopper screamed again, looking at the dog.

"Don't be so afraid, that's my pet dog, Holy. He won't bite.", the Birkan reassured, not meant as a reassurement.

"B-but this guy is lying here, all torn up!"

"Holy is well-trained, so he won't bite anyone recklessly. I cut that man up."

"That's even scarier!", the reindeer yelled, wide-eyed and with sharp teeth. "Who are you?!"

"My name is Ohm. Just be silent!", Ohm shouted, tears suddenly running from his eyes.

"I am saddened by the fraility of man."

"Eh?", a confused reindeer-human hybrid let out.

"Why do people fight and rot, despite knowing the transience of life?!", the winged man wept, even further confusing the blue-nosed.

"What, now?"

"They're born to be happy, and they desire happiness in life, only to die in battle! In which case, it would've been the best to do nothing from the start…", Enel's strongest priest ranted in tears, sniffing. "Such is the dilemma of man's nature… It's so sad…"

"But, there is one path to salvation.", he continued, his tears stopping. Visibly confused, a question mark appeared on top of the light brown-furred's head. "Everyone just needs to die!"

"What scary stuff is this guy saying?!", the hybrid exclaimed in disbelief, his mouth wide open. "Unbelievable!"

Shadows appeared on Ohm's face. He was going serious, and wasn't going to fool around anymore. "What have you come here for?"

"Oh, I'm just looking for gold-"

"Greed begets strife."

"Eh?"

"Allow me to save you.", the priest offered, bearing a dark expression.

"You'll… save me?", the 15-year-old pirate questioned, not knowing how to understand that.

Standing up and unsheathing his sword, the bald priest stood tall. "Once dead, you'll do and desire – nothing."

The doctor's face completely went blank, he himself so scared, his body stiffened. 'HE DOESN'T PLAN TO SAVE ME AT ALL!'

One step forward made by Ohm was enough for Hiluluk's adoptive son to change to Walk Point and start running away, wildly screaming. Chopper ran, far away, and once he thought he was safe, he hid behind a wall, panting from all the fast running. "*Pant*, *Wheeze*, he's not following me… Whew! *Pant*, *Wheeze*, this guy must be a priest too! He's so scary! I just need to escape and meet up with Luffy and the others!"

Meanwhile, on the other side of the plateau, which was Ohm's territory, said priest was preparing an attack. "He's run quite a long way. How foolish… Running from salvation. That itself is an attachment to life, and an earthly desire…", the man with sunglasses grumbled, holding his sword. "However…!"

He then sent a long, wavy stream of sharp iron directed towards the reindeer, precisely calculated by Mantra. The hybrid didn't even see it coming, and it sliced his back, only leaving him the option of crying in pain. "Gahhh!", the blue-nosed weakly let out, falling over unconcsious.

"There are no means to survive on the sad path to attaining peace… This is the Iron ordeal with a survival rate of 0%!"

Although the skilled doctor didn't die, his voice 'disappeared', much to the shock of someone else.

…

"Another voice disappeared!", Aisa exclaimed, tears building up in her eyes.

"Aisa?", Nami asked, wondering what happened. That girl was a mystery to her.

"I can't just sit here! I'm going to find Laki!", the child declared, jumping into the White-White Sea.

"Hold it!", the navigator ordered, pissed off that she had to go after her. The ginger took her shirt off and jumped. "Urgh!"

Catching up with the Shandian, the orange-haired kept hold of her, sternly refusing the winged girl to go. "Stop it!"

"What's your problem?! Let go! Let go of me! Let go!", the Mantra user screamed, struggling within the 18-year-old's grip. "This is none of your business!"

"Maybe not, but I can't just let a kid like you die!", the money-lover scolded, not letting the kid go.

"I'm a warrior!"

"Yes, yes, Kid warrior! Your glares don't scare me."

"Umm, are you all right?", Pagaya worriedly asked back from Merry.

"Just fine.", the Cocoyasi Villager replied, turning her head back to a brown-eyed girl. "Here. There's no use of struggling. Get on!"

"Urgh! No! I'm gonna save everyone! Let go!", Aisa still yelled, refusing to get on the waver.

"Knock it off or I'll slug you!", Nami warned, a strict look on her face. The girl in front of her was about to cry. "And no crying! Even two of our crew have been done in. I can't leave you alone!"

That was one of her big sister moments. Knowing the dangers of this forest, and being good with children, the navigator just had to take care of the Shandian. Once the winged girl stopped struggling, she loosened her grip. "Now hurry and get on."

Giving in, the winged kid complied and got onto the waver. When she lifted her head, her face went blank. The ginger did the same, and her reaction wasn't much different. A huge blue snake emerged from the water, and it looked like the beast focused on the two females standing on their waver.

Slowly, the Master of the Sky made her way to the waver, its passengers screaming out in fear. Before Nola could swallow the waver in whole, the orange-haired acted and rode it into the forest to escape. Conis and Pagaya on the ship didn't know what to do.

"But Nami-san, that's the forest…"

"What do we do, they went into the forest…"

…

Nearby, a Shandian warrior and a divine soldier were mercilessly clashing. Unexpectedly, the two heard screaming sounds and breaking sounds from behind.

"What's that?", the goat-like man demanded, staring at the direction of where the sounds are coming from, just like his enemy.

4 seconds later, a waver came flying towards them, tailed by a massive light blue python.

"It's the Master of the Sky!", the divine soldier shouted, his life threatened.

"Was that… Aisa?", the tribal warrior let out, wondering what a child of his tribe was doing here.

2 seconds later, they both were eaten by the snake, while Aisa and Nami managed to escape.

Once the girls were far enough away from Upper Yard's monster, they stopped on a remote Milky Road, and were frightened about their current situation. "We're… in the forest…"

…

"UOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAH! YOU LITLLE…", Zoro roared, falling from the sky.

Long story short, after defeating Braham, he got lost again, and encountered a giant South Bird while eating his bento. The South Bird wanted to have some of that bento, and because he didn't get any, he followed the green-haired around. When the bird realized the swordsman got lost again, he laughed at the former, earning the former's wrath. The mosshead threw his brown bag at the South Bird's face, who thought there was food inside. Realizing his great mistake, the moss-haired clinged onto the bag, bug the giant bird flew off anyway. Some time later, after the Master of the Sky Nola attempted to eat the South Bird, causing him to drop the Shimotsuki Villager in order to escape himself. Due to earlier happenings, the venomous reptile showed no interest in eating the 19-year-old.

There he was, the 60 Million Berry man Roronoa Zoro, falling onto a heap of rubble. His forced landing swirled up loads of dust. "Damn… That bird's gonna pay…!", he spat, emerging from the rubble.

"One of the Blue Sea people.", Wiper, who was standing only 6 meters away from the former bounty hunter, remarked, ready to fight.

"It's you!", Gan Fall observed in surprise, standing further away. Nola appeared too, but wasn't attacking anyone currently.

"What is this place?", Zoro demanded, calming down from the fall. "Ruins?"

After taking a closer look around, the green-haired focused on Ohm, who was new to him. "Oi, hand over the gold!"

"How sad… Considering no one will survive my Iron ordeal…"

"If you're going to get in my way, I'll eliminate you all!", Wiper bellowed, raising his bazooka.

"Tell me where Enel and the Divine Squad are!"

The priest shrugged, not caring about his enemies' words. "Well, I'm sure you gentlemen have all sorts of things to say, but if you want to make yourselves heard…", he spoke, unsheathing his sword, "… you'll need to survive here first!"

Hearing that challenge, everyone got in their own battle stance. It was a death battle, and they knew it all.

…

"Let's go, Holy!", the Birkan shouted, jumping atop his pet dog. "You can get as wild as you want."

Gan Fall did the same, getting onto his pet for battle. "This is our target, Pierre, we have to stop Enel's priests first!"

While those two clashed, the Straw Hat swordsman was glaring at a certain Shandian in an intimidating manner. "My captain says it's bad to interfere in another's fight. What do you say, shall I take you out first?"

"If you are so keen on dying,…", the warrior spoke with shadowed eyes, "YOU CAN!"

A straight blue pillar of fire shot out of the savage man's Burn Bazooka, destroying everything in its path. The mosshead, obviously faster than a bazooka, jumped up high and escaped.

"That's a pesky weapon you got there!", the moss-haired taunted, drawing his second sword.

"You Blue Sea people know nothing! There's nothing here for you, who just came to the sky!", the dark-skinned guerilla barked, furious at the pirate.

"I'm not about to figure out any of your problems!", the 60 Million Berry man stated, about to attack. "The situation in the sky is not our concern!"

"That figures!", the tattooed Shandian roared, charging at his opponent.

Wiper blocked one sword with his Kairoseki skaters, and dogded the other one. "I was going to eliminate you from the start! Die!"

He shot at the Shimotsuki Villager again, who dogded and wasted no time in retaliating. The Shandian attempted to block the 19-year-old's slash, but that was a deceptive move. The tribal warrior _barely_ dodged his real attack.

Suddenly, Nola decided to join the battle, against Wiper. She lunged forward with great speed, destroying some of the buildings.

"That damn snake! I'm going to kill it!"

Meanwhile, Zoro, forced to move due to the light blue python's attack, heard growls behind him. Turning around, the green-haired noted a big cream-furred dog with a bald priest on top. "This one's got fangs."

Holy swung at the swordsman with his paw, the latter dodging in surprise. "What's with this dog's moves?!"

"His name is Holy.", the winged man explained. "I'm warning you. I'm a stockbreeder in the sky, in other words, a Sky Breeder! My animal training goes beyond ordinary training. I've hammered bipedal walking and then even boxing into Holy. Savor his attack thoroughly!"

The white dog made some moves with his fists, reminding the moss-haired of boxing and several martial arts moves. None of them actually impressed him. "There's such a thing as going too far…"

At rapid speeds, the Sky Knight on Pierre came flying towards the Birkan wearing sunglasses, who blocked the old man's spear at the last second. "Gan Fall…", he snarled in distaste. "You were defeated by someone like Shura! Haven't you learned your lesson? You probably can't even wield your spear any longer, can you? You old fool!"

"Yet I can't withdraw!", the white-haired firmly stated, lacking any fear. "Because I don't know what you and the others are going to do!"

"Hmph! Don't be conceited! Even if you knew, someone like you wouldn't be able to understand God's noble thoughts!", Ohm exclaimed in rage, heavily annoyed by Skypiea's former God.

…

Not that far away, the moss-haired turned around, his view changing. At first glance, nothing seemed special, but having a closer look, the first mate noticed Chopper small in his view, far away and with grave injuries. His eyes flickering, the vice-captain ran, ran to aid his nakama. "Oi, Chopper!"

During the mosshead's run, barbed wire shot out of a hole in a building next to him. It would've certainly sliced the skin of anyone with either low or no Observation haki. Training his haki did benefit the 60 Million Berry man, allowing him to detect danger without closing his eyes. Despite this all, the Shimotsuki Villager _barely_ managed to dodge.

"Chopper, hey, Chopper!", the 19-year-old called, holding the reindeer in his arms. "Say something! Why did you come to a place like this alone?! Hey!"

"Such a shame.", the priest quietly and calmly spat, disrespect in his voice. Enraged, Zoro his upper body around a little. "They're 'Iron clouds'. They are light as clouds, and hard as iron. They're blown into this shape by a Milky Dial. Each one is connected to some part of the ground. When you step on it, it gets discharged. On this field, you will never know when and where they'll be activating to strike you. That animal was partially defeated by me, but he also became a victim of the ordeal on his own."

Calmly, the green-haired laid his injured friend down, shadows in his eyes.

"So, do you want to get revenge now or something?", the winged man asked, sitting on his obedient pet.

"No.", the Blue Sea swordsman answered in a calm tone, standing up and facing his enemy. "I don't like to fight for this sort of reason."

"Oh, isn't that something?", Enel's first priest mocked the pirate, putting his sunglasses back to their spot.

"But…", the mosshead continued, standing determined and fearless.

"Huh?"

"I'm getting a little fired up."

Grinning, the Birkan lifted his sunglasses again. "Fine then. Holy!"

Barking, the giant dog punched forward, almost hitting the moss-haired. While the Shimotsuki Villager landed on his feet in a fighting stance, Ohm whipped with his sword, greatly lengthening the blade. Foreseeing his enemy's attack, the first mate parried it, although surprised by the shape of it, and not that easily.

"What kind of sword is this?", the 60 Million Berry man questioned, acknowledging the strength of it.

"Hmpf! This sword is also made of Iron clouds.", the bald man explained, displaying his weapon. "Iron clouds are added to the blade by a Dial built in the haft, so it chases the enemy to the end of the world!"

He shot out another whipping attack, forcing the Straw Hat vice-captain to defend himself. "Were you able to understand that, Blue Sea swordsman?"

"It's like a whip, yeah yeah, I get it. The White-White sea has a bunch of circus warriors.", Zoro taunted, handling the situation coolly.

Suddenly, the Mantra-using priest detected presences climbing up Giant Jack. He knew what that meant, a larger battle.

"Holy!", he muttered, getting off him. "Let's fight separately! It seems that it'll get a little busy here on Upper Ruins!"

Two seconds later, a good amount of divine soldiers, and three Shandians came out of the clouds, landing on the plateau with their Dial skaters.

"Meeeh! Ohm-sama, we will assist you!"

"Wiper! We'll help you reach Enel!"

Fifteen seconds later, two more entered the plateau after climbing up Giant Jack. Two girls on a waver, two screaming girls. Followed by some divine soldiers intending to kill them.

"Aaaaaaaaaaah! Hold it! Stop pestering us!"

Both from appearance and voice, Zoro, Gan Fall, and Wiper recognized at least one of the females. Being shocked of their appearance up there was an understatement.

"N-Nami?!"

"Aisa!"

"Young lady!"

"Kill them!", one of the goat-like soldiers following them shouted, the trio about to hit them with their Impact Dials.

However, none of them were ready for an assault of three worried men each stronger than all of them combined. The threat those divine soldiers posed towards the young girls was eliminated in no time, allowing the duo to safely park their waver.

"Aisa, what are you doing here?!"

"Nami! Why're you here?!"

"Ah! Zoro! Where's everyone?!"

"Wiper!"

But Wiper was angry, not happy to see his fellow Shandian. "What are you plotting, Blue Sea person?!", he snapped at Nami in animosity, loading and raising his bazooka. "Aisa, step away from there!"

Luckily, before the pillar of fire could hit those two, the Sky Knight acted fast, picking them up with Pierre and flying away.

"Phew, that was close!"

"Demon! You're a demon, Wiper!"

"Why did you two come to a place like this?!", the old man questioned in a scolding tone. He was right, that place was dangerous for those two.

"Why? Because of a huge…", the navigator wanted to answer, but was interrupted by the sight of the exact thing she and Aisa were fleeing from. "… snake."

Pierre had flown too close to the giant snake's snout, allowing her to eat and swallow them. Both the ex-bounty hunter and War Demon were equally shocked from this sight.

"Aaaah! That idiot…!"

"Aisa!"

While they watched Nola licking her lips in disgust, Ohm and Holy both attacked silently, landing hits on their opponents. Wiper was directly hit by Holy, on the shoulder-head part, without an escape, and Zoro in the side. Despite deflecting most of the attack thanks to his prediction, the sheer speed alone let the green-haired get hit by the Birkan. Both fell on the stone-hard ground.

"You're both idiots who can't even protect yourselves! Quit worrying about others!", Ohm called, sheathing his sword, confident in victory. "At any rate, no one will survive!"

Overconfidently, the soldiers dressed in white started praising their superior. "Meeeh! That's our Ohm-sama!"

"The survivors on the Upper Ruins are 4 divine soldiers, 4 Shandians, and one Blue Sea person. Including the animals, there is one snake, and Holy. In total, 10 people, 2 animals.", the winged man informed in a calm manner. "Now, let's continue the battle, shall we? I'll finish you off."

"Ohm, you bastard!", a Shandian warrior snarled, readying his bow and arrow. "How dare you harm Wiper?!"

"Oh? Even when he's a speck in God's eyes, you still care for that man?"

"Wiper is our leader!", the tribal warrior shouted, defending his leader's pride.

"We've shared the Shandians' pride!", another one called.

"In order to take back our homeland that was taken from us!", the third one declared, pointing his spear at Enel's priest.

"Enel's servant can't understand the bond between us Shandians!", the bow and arrow warrior exclaimed in pride, glaring murderously at the winged and bald man.

"Well, even if I understood it, I wouldn't feel any sympathy or empathy!", Ohm announced, infuriating the guerillas with his next words. "It's all for naught!"

"Die, Ohm!", the Shandian yelled in utter rage, firing his explosive arrow. It missed, and things far behind Ohm exploded, not that the calm priest minded that anyway.

"It's the climax. Holy, it's time for that!", the Birkan ordered, his well-trained pet knowing exactly what to do.

Holy dashed, and jumped, near the one Shandian, sending him flying to the ground with a punch. Unluckily for that Shandian, he landed on a discharger for the barbed wire. The iron-hard clouds impaled him, and screams filled the air in his area on a large scale.

The fallen warrior's fellow Shandians were disturbed by that violent death, but the bald priest wasn't finished at all. "Dash, Holy!"

Complying, the cream-furred dog dashed around in a circle, letting barbed wire sprout out from the ground. The other two tribal warriors didn't know what exactly that was, but they predicted it'd be trouble. This turned out to be true, as confirmed by a divine soldier. "This surely is the Iron ordeal's true form! The white-barbed death match!"

At the same time, the first mate and leader of the Shandian guerillas stood up, having been lying on the ground for longer than enough. "Fence or no fence, I ain't running away!", the green-haired declared, standing there without sweating out of fear.

"Meeh! You fool! It's not just so you can't run away anymore!", a goat-like soldier informed. "You're surrounded by barbed wire!"

"So what?"

"In other words…", Wiper spoke, kicking that divine soldier into the barbed wire, taking him out, "If you touch it, you'll get hurt."

"So where do I get out when I'm finished with all?!", the swordsman asked in annoyance, pointing out the wire cage's flaw.

Correcting his black sunglasses for the third time, Ohm gave a simple answer. "You can think about that when you're done. Eight more people and two animals left."

Suddenly, a black-haired woman on a Dial-powered board flew through the clouds, landing on the death match's plateau 20 meters next to it. She was in a hurry, and had a worried face. "Wiper! Listen to me!"

Hearing this voice so close to a dangerous battlefield, the warmonger felt worried, even if he didn't want to display or voice it. "Why did you come here?!"

"I came to submit Kamakiri's message to you! Don't fight, Wiper! Get out of here!", Laki almost screamed, running towards the cage. After ceasing the running, the female warrior was breathing hard. "Enel is in the forest!"

"Oi, Laki!", Wiper loudly exclaimed, dropping his large weapon and running in her direction.

"Enel is lighting itself, the very thing people feared as god centuries ago!"

"Don't come near here!", the tattooed guerilla shouted, clenching onto the barbed wire able to cut deep into his skin. "Get out of here!"

"There's no way we can defeat him!"

"Hey, stop it!"

Silence befell both of them as single lightnings appeared behind Laki, their terrifying sounds ringing in their ears. Expecting the worst, the female warrior slowly turned around.

And there he was, God Enel, worst enemy of the Shandians. Standing almost three heads taller than her, and more muscular than anyone she'd seen before, he was a terrible sight, mostly because of his power. "You have called me?"

"Enel…", she gasped out wide-eyed.

Seeing his childhood friend so scared, and in such danger, Wiper was about to lose his mind. "Stop it, Enel! Don't! She abandoned the battle! Hey!"

Laki raised her rifle, placing it on the Logia's chest.

"Laki! Don't fight him!", the proud Shandian desperately ordered, yelling in fear of losing her. "Laki! Run!"

Sadly, the woman didn't listen, and shot. Two times, two holes. Nothing for the Lighthing man, who was far from impressed or dead. That, was such an insolent and suicidal act, no one dared to say a word – save for one foolish divine soldier.

"You fool!", he sneered at the guerilla, who heared everything, but did nothing. "Don't think you can survive while worrying about others!". That man then jumped from his position, and landed behind his enemy shortly after. "I got you, Wiper!", he shouted in victory, hitting the bazooka wielder with his Axe Dial. Despite his external and internal injuries, the strong warrior ignored the pain, and continued worrying about his dearest, who clearly was in much greater danger than he himself. "You fool…"

Memories of her finding heavily wounded Kamakiri, and Kamakiri's words about Enel went through Laki's mind. She certainly was aware of her life in danger, and was scared about that, yet more about someone else's life. Slowly turning her head back, the black-haired woman looked deep into her friend's eyes. "Get out of here."

The next second, her body was electrocuted, mercilessly. So bad, even the metallic gun she was holding turned black. For Wiper, this was the worst thing that could have happened. "Enel…!"

"Yahahahaha… Yahahahahahaha!"

"Oh?", the divine soldier who attacked the War Demon from behind let out, surprised his usually deadly Dial didn't work. "It didn't work on him? Then, I'll give it another shot!"

Without even looking, the fuming Shandian grabbed his head from behind, and slammed it onto the barbed wire with full force, taking out the goat-like man forever.

"You're softer than I thought, Shandian warrior Wiper.", the tall and pale man mocked his darker-skinned enemy, grinning evilly. "Even if she is a woman, she still is a warrior. I treat all those who challenge me equally. Well, try your best not to die."

With that, the tyrant vanished in lightning, his laugh echoing in the sky. The guerilla had a long way of calming down ahead of him.

"Well, she deserved that.", Ohm spat, intending to pour salt into the tattooed man's wound. "Insolently attacking God like that… She received divine punishment."

Almost unable to control himself, Wiper joined back into the fight, going for the giant snake first. The mosshead did too, but preferred to stay away from the raging Shandian. Men get stronger and fight harder when they're angry, and a manly man like him knew that. During their way to Nola, they were interrupted by Holy, Ohm and a divine soldier, the last one taken out by the Shandian leader.

"Six people, and two animals left."

…

Meanwhile, forced to quit going after the giant python, the moss-haired leaned onto a wall, complaining about the local priest and this difficult situation. "Man, that priest's extendable sword is a real pain, forcing me to abandon that stupid snake like that. I have to get Nami, the Sky Knight and that girl out right away. Well, they were swallowed in whole, so they didn't die immediately.". Leaning over, he saw the Master of the Sky fighting hard with Wiper and his Burn Bazooka. "But it's just a matter of time before they do."

"Eisen Whip!"

Suddenly, from far away, another blow of sharp whipped Iron cloud came, almost scratching the first mate. Once again, his trained Observation haki saved him. 'Alright, I've let that guy waiting enough. I should make my way for him right now!'

Concentrating his haki on only one person, the vice-captain made his way for him. This time, unlike most other times, the Shimotsuki Villager didn't get lost, thanks to his haki guiding him. On the other side, Ohm was awaiting him.

"Four people and two animals left.", he muttered, after having slain a Shandian, and having sensed a divine soldier cut up by his foe.

Two minutes later, the 60 Million Berry man finally arrived, directly lunging at his opponent the second he saw him. "Nitoryu: Taka Nami!"

"Eisen Back!". A solid wall of Iron cloud formed by Iron clouds extending from the Birkan's sword Eisen Whip. Zoro managed to cut a piece of it, but not all, as the wall was very stable.

"This sword is made out of Iron cloud.", the bald winged man stated, confident in his abilities. "You think clouds have a set shape? Eisen Fan! Eisen Fork! Eisen Fleuret!"

For the green-haired, the problem wasn't that he couldn't dodge them, since he could. The problem was, that each of those extending attacks kept him at distance, not allowing him to get close to Enel's loyal priest.

"What's the matter?", Ohm sneered with a mocking voice. "You depend on your swords, so keeping distance does you no good."

He was partly right, that's what the swordsman knew. But also partly wrong, which the moss-haired had to prove him. "Not quite! Ittoryu: Sanjuroku Pound Ho!"

"Eisen Whip!". To counter the Blue Sea swordsman's technique, the Mantra user used his primary technique again. It took long for the flying slash to be repelled, but eventually, it was. Technically, the single flying slash was stronger, but the iron whip was supported by pressure from behind and more iron. Therefore, the mosshead had to roll, to successfully dodge his own and his enemy's attack.

"I am impressed.", the 60 Million Berry man admitted, smirking. "You've held your own against me with your sword and made me bleed, even without being a real swordsman. But, just like every other time, I'll have to finish what I started, and move on for my friends. Thanks though, for everything I've learned fighting you. Have a close look at this. Santoryu: Hyakuhachi Pound Ho!"

Not just one flying slash spiraled towards the Birkan wearing sunglasses, but three, looking like 108. Ohm knew, that technique was too strong for him. Still, he held up his Iron cloud sword to minimalize damage, as it would help him much. Once it hit, blood sprayed out of his deep wounds, and screams of pain and agony escaped his throat. Ohm was down, making it one less fighter in the death match and the last priest to fall.

In victory, but without gloating, the tanned muscular man put his swords back in his sheath, and rapidly jumped away when he realized the white dog came back from beating down a Shandian to avenge his master. "Wait!"

To his surprise, Holy complied, and sat down to await orders. "Huh?"

"So this dog listens to everyone?!", the 19-year-old exclaimed in disbelief, pointing his hand at the too obedient dog, with sharp teeth.

Holy was just sitting there, shaking his tail, awaiting orders. "Knock yourself unconscious.", the vice-captain sighed out in annoyance. And when the dog actually knocked himself unconscious, he was dumbfounded again. "He actually did it?!"

"Ah, anyways.", Zoro said, shrugging it all off. "Now I need to take care of that damn snake and this bazooka guy."

With that, he ran off, not going to get lost again, since nobody could miss Nola – nobody, not even Zoro or Kenpachi.

…

Near the Giant Jack, Luffy was still following Robin, who was searching for the bellfry. 'Funny, isn't it? I know the bell's exact location from my memories, yet don't tell her. Although she couldn't reach it anyway, considering it's _really_ high up.'

"The golden bell that must've been in the center of the city isn't here any longer… And it might've had Poneglyphs encraved in it.", the archaeologist observed, slightly disappointed the bellfry wasn't there, though hope of finding it around this area remained.

"I know, right?", the future Pirate King said, casually smiling. "Instead of the golden bell, there is this giant plant. Not even God knows where the bell could be.". **[Yes, the part with God not knowing is the joke.]**

"In that case, where could it be?", the Oharan asked, turning right. Looking down, she noticed something very impressive. "Oh! This is… a rail for lorries."

Noticing that too, the black-haired let out a whistle to display him being impressed. "That's impressive! Didn't know they were this advanced over 800 years ago. The Shandorans really were a great tribe."

That moment, a new, strong individual joined them there, at least that's what the 17-year-old's haki told him. As those two turned around, Enel bit into his red apple, chewing and swallowing down that portion. "Yahahahaha! Isn't it amazing? Even after being shot up to the sky, this city, Shandora, still majestically exists like this."

Dragon's son hated him, that was no secret, even if, just like Crocodile, he wasn't the pirate captain's direct enemy at first. However, the was a big difference between those two. While Sir Crocodile was another cruel pirate with a big plan, Enel was a full psychopath with a god complex. The latter would wipe out continents and complex island networks of Sky Islands, including their inhabitants, for something absolutely delusional, like going to the moon, or 'Fairy Vearth'. That's why, Garp's grandson hated the Lightning Logia MUCH more than the Sand Logia.

"Even if it's a legendary city, if it's covered by clouds, it can't show off its figure.", the light blond continued. "I'm the one who found it! Those stupid former gods didn't even notice its existance."

"Who are you?", the former scholar questioned, speaking calmly, aware of the man's power level.

"God.", the Logia user answered, proudly grinning. As a fact, the Lightning man loved this question, just so he could boast about his title and show off.

The long-earlobed man took another bite of his apple. "You're pretty good. It seems like you're an archaeologist from the Blue Sea. It took even us several months to find these ruins. If you can read the letters on that ruins, you can find this place that easily?", the former Birkan spoke, secretly amazed by the tanned tall woman's skill. "However, the gold you're looking for isn't here any longer. You're a few years late."

How Enel took the gold angered the rubber man. He wasn't really interested in culture and history, but stripping the city of gold was just darn disrespectful and an insult to all Shandorans that died fighting for their city. It seemed to anger the blue-eyed too, but she didn't show it on the outside. "Gold? Come to think of it, I couldn't find any. You must be the one who took out from here."

"Gold is a nice thing.", the arrogant god said, inwardly hugging all his gold making him wealthy. "It suits me well, that glittering metal."

"Then, you took the golden bell that used to be here, too?", the raven-haired questioned, finding the thought of it disgusting.

"Huh?", the Logia let out, never heard of that before, his mouth half full with apple. "Golden bell?"

Visibly relieved, the Buster Call survivor breathed out air. 'He doesn't know, that's good!', she thought, letting a drop of sweat roll down her face in relief.

'Good thing he doesn't know.', the tall boy wearing his captain's coat thought, his lips forming a tiny smirk.

Following that, 'God' ate the rest of his apple in whole. "That's interesting. What did you learn by reading the letters?"

"No. If it wasn't here when you first came here, it didn't come to the sky after all, the huge golden bell Shandora took great pride in, and the bellfry for the bell.", the 79 Million Berry woman tried to bluff, not going to allow the wingless man to take that great historic relic.

Still chewing on red apple, the long-earlobed man discarded that thought. "No.", Enel insisted. "It's still here, in the sky. When this island was blown into the sky 400 years ago, in other words, on the day God's island, Upper Yard, was born, it's said that the loud chimes of a bell rang throughout the entire nation... Although old people in this nation call it the island's singing voice."

The former Birkan raised his arms, left and right, sitting in a mighty pose. "I see! How wonderful! That bell was made of gold! Soon, the game will be over, eight more minutes to go. While I'm at it, why don't I look for the golden bell?"

'He won't find it anyway!', the 160 Million Berry man thought, his smirk widening a bit.

At the same time, the Lightning man detected someone he intended to kill running to the shore of the island. "Looks like there's a maggot at the edge of this island.", he nonchalantly remarked, standing up.

"Lightning sprouted out of his body, as he turned to energy. "What're you…", Robin questioned wide-eyed, expecting something bad.

Luffy knew what was going to happen. Enel would use his El Thor technique, and his target would be eliminated. 'It's selfish from me to do nothing, but I'll have to wait for the finale of this "survival game" to give Enel what he deserves, so his defeat will have a bigger impact. Just wait, Enel!'

…

Even 19 seconds after the attack, the archaeologist was still speechless, actually scared by that man's brutality and terrifying powers. "W-what did you just do?!"

He grinned smugly and viciously. "I bestowed mercy.", the Logia user answered, not feeling any qualms about killing. "A pitiful worm was in great pain, so I saved him by releasing him from it. It was my duty as God."

Holding his chin, Skypiea's current God mused about a few things before speaking again. "It seems that the young woman is still behaving desperately but that's the perfect entertainment for the party.". The pale and muscular man's eyes narrowed at the last sentence, and his voice became especially sadistic, making the raven-haired's whole body tremble and sweat. "They can all realize what despair is."

'You really are scum, stupid fake god!', the black-haired thought.

"Now, we are running out of time. Let's settle this, shall we?, the tall light blond began, a ruthless expression on his face. "My ultimate plan will start soon, as well, so…"

"Ultimate… Plan?"

This time, the former Birkan didn't answer. "Come to me, lowly beings!", he shouted, not addressing the 17-year-old and the 28-year-old. "Shango!"

Electricity flowing all through his body went up Giant Jack, and destroyed all the Upper Island clouds, forcing every stone, every body, and everything up there, including Zoro, Wiper, and Nola, to fall down hundreds of meters.

"What?!", the green-haired exclaimed, not believing his eyes. "Everything's falling down!"

"It's Enel!", Wiper shouted. "He's the only one able to do that!"

'This man's ability… What a terrifying power!', the Oharan continued to think, no idea how she could ever stand up to him.

"YAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

…

Conis was determined.

 _Flashback:_

 _The wounded Skypiean divine soldier she and her father found near the coast, told them about Enel's real plans, his plans of eliminating every person in the sky. She should've known that Enel wouldn't like that. Her father Pagaya barely saved her from their 'God''s judgement, sacrificing himself._

 _Of course, the blonde girl was sad about her father, crying and hugging Su, but she had a mission, warning everyone else about the tyrant's wicked plans. "Su, take care of these two, I gotta tell everyone and save Angel Island's citizens!"_

 _Flashback end_

Having borrowed her father's waver, the angel-like girl was riding fast towards Angel Island. 'No longer can I look and stand there, doing nothing! I will save them! For father, for the real God, for peace!'

…

"Let the finale begin!"

Enel disappeared, and tons of ruins rained onto Shandora. None of the ruins actually fell on the two, but it all was still more than weird to watch. After everything calmed down, a certain swordsman wearing a dirty, ripped, and bloodied blue tank top pushed a large rock off his back, and stood up, heavily panting.

"Zoro!"

"Swordsman-san!"

"Dammit, that hurt!", he snapped, cursing the fall and landing. In his hand, the moss-haired held Chopper, still injured from all the cuts he received thanks to Ohm. "Oh, it's just you. Where am I?"

Not liking his first mate ignoring his injuries, the caring captain walked up to his friend, and, unexpectedly, scolded him. "You, Zoro, don't be so ignorant about your injuries, a normal person would've died! Not that it's bad you're not a normal person, but more of a monster or demon, but look more after yourself in the future!"

"Shut up!", the mosshead barked back, annoyed, then shaking his head. "It's not even me who's hurt that badly. And who're you calling a demon?!"

Closely beholding the doctor, the strawhat's face straightened up, getting more serious. "I know, I know. Someone should help Chopper.". 'Good job, Chopper, you fought well. You're becoming more and more reliable day by day. Sorry I couldn't protect you from that psycho.'

"I know about basic medical treatment, Captain-san. Please hand Doctor-san to me, I can bandage his wounds.", the blue-eyed requested, taking her request seriously.

Nodding in appreciation, the rubber man handed the hybrid over. "Thank you.", he spoke, his eyes expressing gratefulness. Following this, the most wanted man's son changed his expression to serious again. "Yosh! Things will get out of hand soon. Do whatever you want, but stay close to me!"

The 60 and 79 Million Berry criminals both understood, and didn't say anything against their captain's words. Their sense of feeling might not be as good as the sense of feeling of him, the future Pirate King, but that's all they needed, since anyone could rely on the strong and powerful boy's feeling.

Meanwhile, Wiper and Nola were staring, gaping at the buildings, the ground, the everything. What the Shandian man, and Shandian python saw, was their destination, the majestic home they've been searching for decades, centuries. Shandora.

Everything in all would've made a good scenery, if it wasn't for Enel, who was sitting on a newly made spinning cloud ball floating in the sky. "Yahahahahaha! My prophecy came true! Three more minutes, and the finale will begin!"

* * *

 **That was IT! I am terribly sorry for all the time I've let you waiting, but I have my reasons. First of all, school is FAR FROM EASY right now, and it's eating half of my free time. Second, I have less time to write, since I started reading/watching another long Shonen. I won't reveal which Shonen, but you'll find out when I write another fanfic after this story catches up with the manga. Just saying it right now, it's not Naruto, since I've watched/read it even before One Piece. Also, you might have questions about this chapter.**

 **-Why did the fight between Nami and the Dango brothers go differently? It's because, those two are so stupid, I had to write that part as short as possible. Seriously, while writing that part, I surely lost some brain cells. At least Gedatsu is a genius while fighting, just like Luffy in canon. But hey, perhabs Skypiea is one of the funniest arcs, since so many characters there are fucking dumb af.**

 **-Why did the fight between Robin and Yama go differently, and why did Yama die? I don't hate Yama (still dislike him though), but some people just have to die. I find it stupid that he didn't die in canon (like Pell, Pagaya,…), and was only banished to a desert cloud along with the other priests, barring Gedatsu, who opened up a hot spring island on the Grand Line. I also killed off Mr. 7 and Miss Father's day, because they were SO ANNOYING, and I hated them. More characters will die, but not too many. Also, the reason why the fight lasted so short, is because the only reason Robin didn't take him out immediately was she had to escape first, so that their fight doesn't destroy or damage any more ruins.**


	21. C21: Worst Conductor

**Never again!**

 **Soooo, let's continue, guys! The first part of this chapter will be full of action, battle, and awesomeness, and the second part is going to be a lively, interesting, happy piece. Of course, it won't be as long as the last chapter, but that doesn't mean it's going to be short. Now to the replies!**

 **Answer to Meazm and Edub102: Thanks a lot, you are some of my favourite readers.**

 **Answer to chimera629: Wiper IS strong, very strong. He almost killed Enel and could take out Crocodile.**

 **Answer to shinjojin: I'm glad you liked this part.**

 **Answer to Boby335: Of course I don't see it as a flame, constructive criticism is allowed. I stay close to canon, because if I'd stray from canon too much, I'd lose control over the story and it'd get confusing overall. I've seen some stories where the author lost control at the point you can't recognize the overall state anymore, and trust me, that doesn't look good. Also, like in canon, Akainu hates Aokiji, so I don't think that's super OOC of him. I'm pretty sure he secretly thinks stuff like this about him in canon, so…| But yeah, thanks for your opinion.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**

* * *

 **Chapter 21: Worst Conductor**

2 minutes left until the finale:

Luffy, Zoro, Robin, Wiper and Nola. The five final survivors, besides Enel.

"Yahahahahaha! Two minutes left, I shall let you know of my intentions quick!", the tall light blond announced, laughing like a mighty tyrant. His opponents, enemies – that's what they really were – glared at him, out of two things: hate and curiousity.

"I, God, have a place to return. Skypiea and Upper Yard are simply not enough for me! Do you know, where God's home is? A place where everything is Vearth, where the Vearth stretches all over the ground. That place, is called Fairy Vearth."

'The moon, huh? Really, Enel?', the black-haired thought, making fun of the Lightning man.

"I have designed and made up the survival game of Upper Yard for one reason, finding the strongest warriors to accompany me as my strongest servants.", the pale and muscular man continued, a wide grin on his face. "The Divine Squad of former God Gan Fall spent 6 long years building the Ark Maxim, our ride to Fairy Vearth. You five, have defeated my former servants, who came to be weak and pathetic. Therefore, I, God, make you my new servants!"

Hearing the last part, the 17-year-old couldn't help but chuckle. "And who says we WANT to come with you, 'God of Fairy Vearth'?"

The Logia became a little confused at that. "Huh? What do you mean? It doesn't matter if you want or not. In the end, you'll have to do what God says. You should start getting used to discarding your own thoughts and fully obey me."

A smirk now formed on the tall boy's face. "I'll pass on that one.", he declared, challenging the long-earlobed man's composure, then changing the topic. "Hey, do you know how many seconds are left until the finale?"

"30, why?", the Lightning Logia asked, sensing something dubious about the rubber man's way of speaking and his actions.

"That's good!", the pirate captain said, smirking even wider. "My plans are changing a little, but that doesn't matter, since the outcome will be even better in a sense."

In a flash, the boy with his captain's coat disappeared, appearing in front of the giant snake's snout 0.8 seconds later. "You there! Spit out my friends! Gomu Gomu no Pistol!"

When the elongated rubber punch collided with the humongous blue python's nose, the Master of the Sky collapsed upon impact, crashing onto the ground with her mouth wide open, leaving the other four impressed or in disbelief.

"He just knocked out the Master of the Sky with one punch! What a monster!", the Shandian shouted out in disbelief, wide-eyed.

"That's our captain.", the green- and raven-haired remarked, smirking.

Not much later, four living beings walked out of the venomous reptile's mouth, dirtied and slightly tattered. "Finally! I couldn't bear it anymore!"

Those four were quickly identified as Nami, Aisa, Gan Fall and Pierre.

"Aisa!", the wild guerilla shouted, relieved the girl from his tribe was okay. "You're fine!"

Contrary to the War Demon, the little girl wasn't that happy to see him. "Don't do something like that again, you savage!", she furiously yelled at him, still mad about the bazooka incident.

Meanwhile, a certain navigator ran towards her captain with the intention to hug her savior. "Luffy, guys! You're fine! Thank you for saving me!"

"Ugh! Y-you're welcome! Please get off me!", the 160 Million Berry man let out, his face in the ginger's breast, and this even without him wanting that.

At the same time, the Sky Knight was pointing his spear at his worst enemy, an angry expression on his face. "Enel! Answer me two questions! First, where is my Divine Squad?! And second, what do you plan?!"

"What I plan?", the bandana-wearing God reiterated in a serious tone, getting everyone's attention. "I already told this once, so I'll only repeat the most important things. I'll be leaving this place soon, with my Ark Maxim. Before I head to Fairy Vearth, I'll take the golden bell, then destroy Skypiea. After that-"

The former Birkan didn't expect everybody to either have a shocked, or angry face. Therefore, he asked for the matter.

"Huh? What's wrong? Why these faces?"

"Y-you want to destroy S-skypiea?!", the old man repeated, dread written on his face. For him, it was clear, that man was a monster.

"Ah, about this? You see, Gan Fall, this nation has a fundamental problem. It was born in the sky, but isn't a cloud, it lives in the sky, but isn't a bird. As God, I only serve nature itself, and this nation, is clearly defying the nature's laws, which is, why Skypiea and its denizens must be dragged down from the sky!"

Now, just about everyone was either shaking or sweating. Even the fierce, merciless warrior Wiper was feeling empathetic with the Skypieans he hated. Because, even he'd take a billion of them over Enel.

"I mean, the only problem is this nation's existence here in the sky. The Skypieans can continue to live in the Blue Sea – if they survive."

Skypiea's former God was utterly enraged, that was as clear as water. He did his best to keep his temper down. "And what happened to my Divine Squad?"

Enel began speaking after fiddling with his finger inside his left ear. "I eliminated them.". He noticed the white-haired's furious gaze, and tried to calm him down a little. "Hey, I didn't want to eliminate them. But after I told them about my plans, they started attacking me, so I just had to put them in their place."

"Don't you realize they have family in Skypiea?!"

The tyrant of Skypiea didn't care much about that, and continued fiddling in his ear, bearing a nonchalant expression. "So what? I'm gonna bury them as well."

Gan Fall's eyes narrowed, burning out of anger, just like every other humanoid male opposing the light blond. "Are you… A DEMON?!", he furiously exclaimed, charging at the tall man with drums on his back. When he thought he hit the Lightning man, his spear went right through his enemy, thanks to the latter's Logia powers.

"5 Million… 10 Million… 20 Million Volt Vari!"

Enel's lightnings fully hit the Sky Knight, greatly injuring him. Not only that, the metal armor increased the damage. All females and a certain pink bird were shocked by this. "Luffy! Why didn't you help him?!", the orange-haired demanded in disappointment and fear.

Calmly, the world's most wanted man's son proceeded to explain. "I have a rule. This rule is, not to interfere in another's fight. The Sky Knight's fight with this fake god was obviously something personal. So, even if I saved him, he wouldn't have liked that."

Slightly understanding, the 18-year-old backed off. "Still, you should do something!"

Dragon's son turned his head and smiled. "You didn't have to tell me, you know, I will kick this guy's ass!"

Realizing about what Garp's grandson was talking, the muscular pale man approached him with a mean expression. "'Kick my ass'? Boy, I don't think you know what a god is. Not only did you ruin my prophecy by taking out the Master of the Sky, which is an unexcusable crime itself, you also talk about defeating me like a mere commoner. Applying Gan Fall's punishment onto you, would be far too soft for you."

Hearing that, Luffy got into his fighting stance, widely smirking. "Do you see the audience? Five people and one bird if we don't count us? Yes, I talk about defeating you like it's nothing, but it's not an empty bluff, it's a promise."

Fuming inside, the long-earlobed man gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, glaring murderously at the black-haired, who continued to speak! 'How dare he?!'

"Like you, I also have a plan. Although there was a change of plans at first, the outcome doesn't affect it a single bit. Since we're about to fight anyway, I'll make it brief. My plan… is humiliating you in front of this audience."

The 17-year-old hit a nerve, that was apparent. The Logia user was getting usurped by his own fury. His stronger nakama liked the way this was going, and slightly smirked.

"How DARE you! 50 Million Volt Vari!"

"Luffy!"

Blue electricity engulfed the rubber man's whole body. The bandana-wearing god was grinning in victory, and the Shandian girl crying. When Enel thought that was enough, he dissolved the lightnings, and then gaped at the strawhat in disbelief. The latter was absolutely unharmed.

"Sorry.", the 160 Million Berry man smirked. "Your lightnings do not affect me."

"I get it!", the Cocoyasi Villager exclaimed. "Luffy is made of rubber, and rubber doesn't conduct electricity! That's basic science!"

Totally astonished and perplexed, Wiper also added his two cents in. "To think something like that exists… Unbelievable!"

Meanwhile, the man with a god complex was recovering from his shocked state, shaking his head. "No, no, no! Even if my lightnings don't affect him, physical attacks can never hurt me!"

That claim of his made the pirate captain's smirk grow wider. "Wanna bet? Gomu Gomu no Pistol!"

A non-conducting fist of a pirate collided with an arrogant man's chest, forcing the latter to breathe hard in pain. "Uack!", the light blond let out, spitting out some saliva.

Dragon's son was content about the happenings, so were all onlookers. "Your problem is,", the world's most wanted man's son spoke, "you live pretty much isolated from the rest of the world. Sky Island is like a pond compared to the Blue Sea. Because Skypiea and other Sky Island nations are so small, they never heard of rubber, and there are, of course, far less opponents that could compete with you than in the Blue Sea. I could name 30 people from my world that could defeat you, and you don't even know of their powers. Up here, you can play God as much as you want, since no one could stop you, but down there, your arrogant ass would've been toppled years ago."

His choice of words made the Lightning man go completely mad, as the tall pale man was twitching with his blue eyes, and gripping his hands. "That is insolence! Blasphemy! Come here, and I will show you the true might of God!"

"True might?", Garp's grandson mocked, a challenging look on his face. "Someone who solely relies on his devil fruit, has shit stamina and endurance, only knows one type of haki, and is afraid when he's about to die isn't mighty, much less a god!"

The long-earlobed man was triggered. "100 Million Volt Vari!", the Lightning Logia roared, attempting to strike down the adventurous pirate. However, even the thought of it was futile.

"Don't you get it? Your lightnings will NEVER affect rubber!". Luffy then disappeared, and appeared again once he was very close to Enel. "Kamisori!", the black-haired shouted. "Armament! Gomu Gomu no Pistol!"

Blood flowed through the gold thief's face, exactly on the spot where the 17-year-old had hit him. This time, the Logia was rather terrified than angry. "T-that was the second form of Mantra!", Enel burst out. "No way you have it, and I don't! Mantra is the power of the chosen ones!"

The more the former Birkan was in disbelief, the better the strawhat was feeling. "I'm feeling all kinds of good now, but I guess I should put you out of your misery quick. Gomu Gomu no Gatling!"

Although the Lightning man wasn't in the mood of fighting anymore, he wouldn't just let himself get hit. "Mantra!"

"Ah, you're evading my attacks now?", the rubber man sarcastically complimented, grinning. "Doesn't matter, cuz I'm gonna win in the end!"

Following this, the boy in red ran towards his enemy on the air, starting a sky battle.

"Phew!", Nami sighed out, moving towards the injured old man. "Guys, we should treat the injured as long as that creepy Lightning man is busy."

"I'm fully supporting that idea, Navigator-san.", Robin said, turning around.

As the Oharan was moving away, one man raised his voice. "Hold it!", the Shandian warrior called, not hostile towards the Blue Sea people anymore. "I want answers! Just why did you come here, what's your business with Shandora?"

"What our business is?", the archaeologist repeaded in an answering tone, turning around again to face the dark-skinned. "I can tell you that."

And she did. About Montblanc Cricket, his ancestor Montblanc Noland, and how this ancestor was executed for 'lying'. Then, he came to a realization. They had never been his enemies, they just wanted to ring the golden bell and clear the injustice put onto Noland's name, who was a hero to his tribe. "I do understand now… Please, ring the golden bell and bring justice to our hero's name. I say that as descendant of Calgara, a legendary warrior of my tribe and friend of Noland. Light the fire of Shandora!"

She then smiled at him. "No problem, just trust our captain's determination to do so."

…

Just below the clouds, the future Pirate King and current God of Skypiea were having a fierce battle in the sky, with the Paramecia user dominating the fight. "Another one of your problems is your combat speed.", the most wanted man's son stated. "There are two kinds of speed, pure speed and combat speed. Since you are literally Lightning, your pure speed is above mine, however, your combat speed is far below mine. To win against me, you have to attack, and I have blocked or dodged every one of your attacks. Like I said, you can't win!"

"Shut up, lowly Blue Sea ape!", the tall light blond snapped. "Raigou!"

He formed a huge dark sphere of highly destructive lightning, far larger than his Ark Maxim, but Dragon's son destroyed it with only one fist. Enel was becoming really desperate, not knowing how to defeat the unstoppable young pirate. Of course, the pale and muscular man didn't want his enemy to know that desperateness, since he considered himself god, but the boy noticed nonetheless.

"You know what?", the intelligent boy spoke, slowly getting bored. "I think that is enough. I have one last thing to show you before I kick your ass for good!"

With that, Garp's grandson grabbed the Logia's hand, and pulled the bandana-wearing god with him, who struggled hard, but failed miserably.

…

Roughly one minute later, the King's haki user arrived at his destination, a very special cloud with something even more special on it. The long-earlobed man's eyes widened as he saw the majestic object resting on the cloud. "T-t-that's the golden b-bell!", he stuttered, desiring to own the golden bell.

"Do you know why I brought you here?", Luffy asked, a stern, yet calm expression on his face.

"T-t-to show me the golden bell and let me take it?", the former Birkan suggested, stammering and smiling in fear.

Shaking his head, the black-haired looked one more time into the face of the god that was about to be dethroned, with and especially mean, humiliating grin. "Not quite. The only reason I brought you here, is to tell you you'll never get to lay your hands on this bell."

That was it. Once again, the 17-year-old hit a nerve, and Enel looked humiliated to the core. "I-I-I-I… c-c-c-can't b-believe… t-t-this… UAAAAAAAGH!"

The next moment, the boy understanding more about justice than any Marine had a serious expression again. "God Enel, your wish was to leave Skypiea for Fairy Vearth, right?". Enel gulped, sweating buckets, knowing what was about to happen couldn't be good for him. "So be it! Go to the moon, and never come baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!", the pirate captain yelled, kicking the Lightning man's butt so hard, the impact left a permanent footprint on there, just like his Gomu Gomu no Rifle on Bellamy left a permanent fist imprint. At a rocket's speed, the wingless man flew towards the moon, soon leaving the atmosphere.

Skypiea was at peace now, that's what the 160 Million Berry criminal knew. Still, he had to do one more thing, fulfilling a promise.

"CRICKET-OSSAN, SARUYAMA BROTHERS! HEAR THE CHIMES OF THE GOLDEN BELL!", the future Pirate King shouted out at the top of his lungs, _very_ loudly, readying his extra powerful punch. "Gomu Gomu no Rifle!"

Upon impact with the rubber fist, the huge bell let the world know its voice, filling the air around it with the clear, beautiful sound of a bell's ringing. Everyone heard it, Skypiean citizens, the Straw Hats, Wiper and Aisa, even Jaya's citizens and nearby pirates, like Cricket, Shoujou, Masira, and Bellamy with his crew. Some were at the verge of tears.

"CRICKET-OSSAN, SHOUJOU, MASIRA, EVERYONE! THE MOUNTAIN OF GOLD IS REAL! SKY ISLAND EXISTS! NOLAND DIDN'T LIE! DO YOU HEAR THAT?!"

Clearly, that was a satisfying moment none of the ones hearing would ever forget. The ringing of this bell meant the end of war between the Skypieans and Shandians. So, beside the beautiful sound, it also had a symbolic effect.

Due to the extra hard hit, the complete bellfry, with its bell and Poneglyph, was knocked off the island cloud, tons of gold falling down on Upper Yard.

'Yosh! I want meat!... Oh, and I hope the bell doesn't hit anyone.'

…

With the war over, and hostilities towards each side ceased, the Straw Hats, including Usopp and Sanji, who were mostly fine at that time, were partying with all the Skypieans and Shandians, throwing a huge banquet. Of course, one man laid his hands on most of the meat.

"Party! Party!"

"Oi, Luffy! Give me some of the meat too, you glutton!"

The rest of that day went peacefully, with even former enemies talking to each other, like Gan Fall and Wiper. However, the highlight was the partying spirit of the Straw Hats, that only the Red Hair Pirates could match.

Somewhere, down in the New World, Shanks looked up to the sky. "Luffy, I'm proud of you."

…

One day later, a certain liar was telling his lies that would come true eventually to a group of people of both Sky Island races. They were so great to those people, he received a large bag full of Dials. But, the majority of Dials were traded. Rubber bands and ordinary iron blandished by the long-nosed for various Dials.

Not far away, a green-haired swordsman effortlessly cut a boulder, and wasn't impressed. "Meh, I need more training!"

From his left, one of his nakama, the darker-skinned sniper, approached the mosshead. "Lucky, lucky, I'm so lucky!", the curly-haired sung, slightly getting on the moss-haired's nerves with his happy singing.

"You seem pleased with yourself, Usopp, how did the trading go?", the 60 Million Berry man nonchalantly inquired, already knowing the answer just by looking at the bag.

Pulling a Dial out of his bag, the sharpshooter displayed it to his nakama. "Look at how many Dials I got! Check this one out!", he enthusiastically spoke, pressing the apex of this Dial, making it shoot out flames. "You like it?"

"Good for you.", the first mate murmured, already looking somewhere else.

"You bet it's good! I can do a lot of things with these shells! The Usopp Workshop will be revolutionized!", the marksman declared, laughing and dancing inbetween.

"How about this?", the younger one suddenly suggested, not taking what he said seriously himself. "I'll make one of your swords into a Flavor Sword, and you'll be surrounded by the scent of melon while you're training."

Promptly, the vice captain refused without a second thought. "I'm fine."

"That's right! I can make some improvements to Nami's Clima Tact! And my pachinko balls will be something to fear!", the coward declared, giggling like a child at the thought of becoming a force to be reckoned with. "By the way, where are the others?"

"Robin went off by herself, and the rest is still with that snake.", the 19-year-old informed.

"That fine-tempered snake?", Usopp asked, secretly recording it with a Tone Dial.

"You dork. You haven't seen this thing on a rampage."

" _That fine-tempered snake?"_

"I just said it, you're only saying that because you haven't seen it when mad."

" _That fine-tempered snake?"_

"Hey, are you even listening to me, Usopp?"

Said 17-year-old turned around, making the Dial visible for the Shimotsuki Villager. _"That fine-tempered snake?"._ "It was the Tone Dial.", Usopp announced, chuckling inside.

"Quit it with that dumb shit!", Zoro furiously yelled with sharp teeth, not liking having been fooled by the lanky liar.

Following that, the darker-skinned burst out in laughter. "HAHAHAHAHAHA! He called it dumb, and he's dumb himself! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"OI!", the tanned, muscular man shouted, clearly not amused.

…

15 minutes earlier:

Luffy, Sanji, Nami and Chopper paid a visit to Nola, in order to get something valuable out of her. "Hey, giant snake!", the black-haired called, waking the python up and making his nakama cringe. 'What is he thinking?!'

When the reptile first opened her eyes, she glared at the four in a menacing way. Two seconds later, after eyeing a familiar straw hat, the beast gave their leader a sheepish smile, meaning an apology.

"Good girl.", the 17-year-old told, patting the Master of the Sky's head.

'He is the real monster there…', they all thought, sweatdropping.

"Say, are you feeling full?", the pirate captain asked the venomous snake, with her nodding. "There are a few things we'd like to retrieve. If you don't mind, would you kindly empty your stomach?"

To the not-Luffy trio's surprise, she actually did what their captain demanded, and they watched in astonishment and disgust as Nola threw up various buildings, and finally some treasure in 10 whole minutes.

During the five minutes after that, the four stacked all the treasure, mostly gold, into four bags, fitting everything inside.

"Sugoooi! This is neat!", the orange-haired exclaimed in joy, referring to the gold. For her, all their hard work and hardships had finally paid off.

"Yosh!", the future Pirate King muttered. "Let's wait for Robin, then get outta here!"

Not wanting to be sentenced as thieves, the blond, ginger, and light brown-furred nodded in agreement.

…

Present timeline:

In awe, a large group of Sky Islanders were staring at the great bellfry of gold, partly covered by vines and moss. Some were admiring the strange, but magnificent metal, some the sheer size of it, and some the Poneglyph encased within the colossal piece of gold.

"So this is the Poneglyph, the stone over which our ancestors fought to death, in order to protect it.", one Shandian commented. "Chief, what does it say."

Despite not being able to read the ancient language, the Shandian Chief, an old man wearing a grey dog hat, knew something about it from messages delivered by the old Chief. "Something best left unknown."

"Hold our true motives in your heart and not speak of it. We are the ones who weave history. With the sounding of the grand bellfry."

A tall raven-haired woman approached the historical stone, speaking out words deciphered earlier. Her knowledge shocked the Chief. "How do you know those words?"

"They were incsribed on Shandoran ruins.", the Oharan explained. "You have been charged with guarding this for generations, right?"

"You mean to say you can read the writings?!", the grey-haired questioned in disbelief, previously having thought nobody could ever read these writings.

Not answering the obvious question, the 28-year-old stepped closer to the Poneglyph, translating the upper lines for everyone else. "Possessing the name of a God, the ancient weapon, Poseidon. It tells its location."

That's where she stopped reading. While everyone else was either amazed by it, or questioning its existence, the former scholar was disturbed by even thinking about the ancient weapon. 'To think something this despicable still lurks in this world… No, I don't want to know any more!', the blue-eyed thought, thinking about the other ancient weapon Pluton and the Alabastan Poneglyph.

Just as the tanned woman was about to turn around, a rather round man from the crowd drew her attention with some words. "Hey, is that part inscribed on the right side of the wall also part of the Poneglyph?"

The 79 Million Berry woman looked exactly where the winged man was pointing, and she was surprised to see some extra letters on the wall right of it. The message written on there surprised the archaeologist even more. 'Gol D. Roger…' 'What?'

'" _I have come here, and will lead this passage to the farthest end of the world._

 _\- Pirate Gol D. Roger"_ '

Her eyes wide open, the Buster Call survivor stared at the message. "The Pirate King?!", she silently muttered in disbelief, surprise mixed into her voice. "Does that mean he was on Sky Island? But what does this incription mean? No, more importantly, how was he able to use this writing?"

Suddenly, a strong wind started blowing in that area, filling the air with green leaves. Despite his old age, Gan Fall was able to hear out Roger's name, contrary to all onlookers. "Is Roger's name there?"

"You know him?", Robin asked, turning to him. She knew, there were more things she'd learn that'd surprise her.

"He was a pirate who came here from the Blue Sea more than 20 years ago.", the old man informed. "Is that name inscribed there?"

"Yes. I cannot be sure how he reached this bell, but the proof that he did is right here.", the raven-haired told. "Now that I think about it… There are two kinds of Poneglyphs. Those which contain information, and those which tell the location of others. This one is a Poneglyph which contains information."

'" _I have come here, and will lead this passage to the fartherst end of the world."_ Lead this passage… Lead…', the intelligent woman thought, coming to another realization, as her bright blue eyes blinked up. 'Could he mean the Rio Poneglyph?!'

At the same time where the Oharan finished thinking that, the wind stopped blowing, and the leaves started falling. "Chief.", the tall and slender woman calmly spoke up. "This poneglyph has already fulfilled its duty."

"Its duty?", the Shandian repeated, not knowing what she meant.

"Yes. There are many Poneglyphs which contain information scattered throughout the world. By reading all of them as one, they must form a passage which fills the void in history. In other words, that is the yet nonexistent Rio Poneglyph.", the 28-year-old explained, sparking interest in history within some people. "The Pirate King Gol D. Roger must have taken this passage with him to his destination. So now-"

"You mean…", the bearded elderly man began, gladness building up inside of him. "Our duty has been fulfilled?". After saying that, tears formed in his eyes. "We… we won't… have to fight anymore? I see. Our ancestors' wish has been fulfilled."

A handful Shandians kneeled beside their tribe leader, who had fallen onto his knees, to check on him. "Chief! Are you alright?"

"Thank goodness! Thank goodness! It's been fulfilled!"

Smiling, the ex-scholar left a small comment to reassure, before walking away in thoughts. "Yes."

About five seconds later, the Sky Knight also decided to share his thoughts. "You, Miss. The boy with the straw hat gives me the same impression Roger did. Is it my imagination?"

"His name is Monkey D. Luffy.", the 79 Million Berry woman said, being in a good mood. "He will also become Pirate King."

"D? I see.", the white-haired remarked, sitting on a thick brown log beside Pierre. "It suits him to have this letter in his name."

Nodding, the Buster Call survivor agreed. "Yes, that will surely be a great point in history."

Just when the tanned woman was going to leave, the Shandian Chief spoke up to her from behind. "Pardon me, Miss. I recall that you were here to find gold. It's worth more in the Blue Sea than Vearth, right?"

Robin nodded. "Yes."

"Then what about taking the broken bellfry support?", the dog-hatted old man offered. "Of course, we can't give you the bell. After all, we have to thank you and your crew for what you've done."

"Yeah, that's right!", one man from the side agreed.

"Are you sure?", the archaeologist shyly asked, maintaining her smile. "That support is enormous.". Yes, while it was only a smaller support, the pillar of gold was still VERY large, almost as long as the gigantic Ark Maxim, which was still standing where Enel had left it.

"Please, don't be shy.", another man said.

"Yes.", the Chief declared, fully willing to give away that much gold.

"It's decided!", a Shandian man called. "Let's carry this to the Blue Sea dwellers' ship!"

"Get on both sides! It'll be hard to carry!"

"We'll give it to our land's saviors!"

Hearing all that, the blue-eyed fufufu-ed. She couldn't wait to see her nakama's faces when she arrived with this unbelievable amount of gold. And then the march started.

…

10 minutes later:

Luffy, hungry, was slightly tired of staring at the direction his archaeologist went to for 10 minutes. "Man, Robin sure is taking forever.", he remarked, his stomach growling. "I want meat…"

"Is this place deserted?", Sanji wondered, looking around, not seeing anybody beside his crew. "What's going on? Neither the guerillas nor the angels are here."

"No, we're better off without them.", Usopp claimed. "If they see what we're up to, they'll come after us! After all, we're stealing their gold and making a run for it, right? They won't be thrilled if they find out."

Nami and Conis were preparing their departure, increasing the long-nosed's wish to get away from there fast. "We should hurry up."

Shortly after, their 7th nakama finally arrived, with an army behind her carrying a huge cylindric object covered with a white-ish tarp. A certain coward became afraid, seeing that massive pillar.

"AAAAAAH! It's a cannon! They're going to shoot us with that! I'm sure it's a cannon!"

"Huh, REALLY?!", the naive reindeer shouted, believing the liar, now also scared.

However, the straw-hatted captain didn't think they were going to shoot them. "Calm down, if they're with Robin, and she's not running or a hostage, they're friends. Yeah, they're friends."

"How can you be so sure about that, Luffy?!", the sniper snapped with sharp teeth, his knees trembling the next moment.

Smiling brightly, the rubber man answered the curly-haired's question. "Shishishi! Look closely, they look like they're friends with Robin. I think it's safe to say they wouldn't be that made if we take a little gold. They still have the golden bell and can retake all the gold Enel stole to build his Ark Maxim."

The sharpshooter gulped. "But still…"

By that time, the raven-haired had already arrived in front of the five male Straw Hats. 'Oh boy…', the lanky marksman thought, trying his best to stay calm.

"Robin-chwaaan~!", the lovestruck ero-cook raved, hearts in his eyes.

"Oi, Robin!", the 17-year-old greeted her in a friendly way. "You're back! And, why are those guys carrying this giant pillar?"

Smiling, the Oharan made a gesture with her hand, telling the Shandians to take the tarp down. Once the tarp was fully removed, all of the Straw Hat men were wide-eyed and in shock. That was the largest piece of gold they'd ever seen, apart from the black-haired, who saw the golden bellfry with his own eyes.

"R-r-r-robin, w-what is this? D-don't say it's for us!", the darker-skinned stuttered, not being able to say anymore.

"Sugooooooi! I've never seen this much pure gold!", Chopper exclaimed, stars in his eyes.

"Robin-chwann, you simply are amazing!"

Meanwhile, instead of praising the golden pillar, the future Pirate King worried about something else. "Hmmm, this pillar of gold is nice, and surely worth _much,_ but how the hell should we take it back down to the Blue Sea? I don't think we should take it with us."

"I swear, if the witch finds out about this, she'll never forgive you.", Zoro dryly stated. "Nor us, for not doing anything to stop your decision."

Dragon's son gulped, sweating a little. He may be the captain, and one of the strongest people in the world, but that wouldn't matter to the money lover. She'd choke him, gut him, fry him, feed him to the biggest Sea Kings. "We're taking the gold, Captain's orders!"

With that, the six straw hats and at least 100 men from Sky Island marched towards Going Merry. 'If only Nami wasn't obsessed that much with valuable stuff…'

…

"Sugggoooooooi! Are you for real?!", the Cocoyasi Villager screamed out in happiness, dancing around, stars in her eyes. "I'm so rich!"

"Nami-swaaan~, you are so cute when you're happy!"

Normally, the navigator wouldn't allow the cook to dance with her, but this time, things were different.

Sweating, Usopp walked towards the railing facing the coast, looking exhausted. "Everything's ready! We can set sail!"

Following that, the dancing pair, which recently stopped their tango, also entered Merry's Deck, one going to the kitchen, lighting up a cigarette, the other one continuing to gawk at the broken bellfry support.

As Going Merry sailed on the White-White Sea, two friends rode a waver at the side, parting with them until Cloud's end.

"Everyone, there it is! Look forward, it's Cloud's end!", Conis shouted, trying to be louder than their waver's horn.

Cloud's end was a white gate again, with some golden decoration and a red roof, just like Heaven's gate. However, there was one big difference. Above Heaven's gate, there was no rainbow.

"I'll miss it here.", the 160 Million Berry man admitted, slightly wishing his adventure lasted a little longer."

Blowing out some smoke, the perverted cook, standing on his captain's side, also admitted that. "Yeah, I agree."

"Sky Island sure was fun.", the infant-sized Zoan told, his expression suddenly changing. "And a bit scary."

"Do you think we'll ever come back to Sky Island?", Nami wondered, wearing a new outfit.

"I hope so.", the darker-skinned spoke, not afraid of Sky Island anymore, since there were no scary fake gods or priests anymore.

At one point, Pagaya and his daughter parked their waver at a cloud-sidewalk next to the gate, and followed the small vessel through the gate by running. "Okay everyone, I'm sorry. This is as far as we can go."

"Take care, everyone!", the blond angel-like girl shouted after them, waving her hands while running.

"Thanks for taking care of us! Goodbye!", the 18-year-old kindly called back from the pirate ship.

"Conis-chan, take care of yourself!", the leg fighter exclaimed in a quieter tone, hearts in his eyes.

"Say thanks to everyone else too!", the curly-haired requested.

Now, it was Luffy's turn of saying goodbye. "Thanks for everything.", Garp's grandson spoke, smiling. For him, expressing gratitude was a great thing, and the boy liked doing it everytime, not even when needed.

Contrary to the Straw Hats, Conis thought differently "No! We have to thank _you_ for everything! We'll never forget you!"

"Conis! Pagaya-ossan! Take care of yourselves!", was the last thing the strawhat said, before his ship went down a Milky Road, leading to the freefall to exit Skypiea.

Few seconds later, at the end of the Milky Road, shortly before the freefall, Conis yelled from afar one last time. "Everyone! Be careful during the freefall!"

"Freefall?", some of the Straw Hats wondered, their heads resting on their palms, indicating they're thinking. Just as they were happy to return to their own sea, the Blue Sea, again, their friend brought up something like a freefall. "What freefall?"

Once they realized they were falling, the eyeballs of some shortly comically left their eye sockets, leaving them speechless for a few moments. The 17-year-old wasn't scared of the fall, but still affected by the shocking effect of the sudden freefall, since this one was much, much worse than the fall on Upper Yard.

Meanwhile, still at the top, the young girl took a silver whistle out of her pocket, blowing into it. "Here goes, octopus balloon!"

Out of the White Sea, an octopus balloon summoned by the whistle embraced the Going Merry, slowly slowing it down.

Before realizing the living balloon's role, the cowardly trio became scared, and the green-haired tried to attack it. "OCTOPUS!"

"You little- ***Thump!***

Due to the abrupt deceleration, the swordsman, as well as everyone else crashed on the floor, without any injuries.

"It's a balloon!", the ginger called out, standing up from her spot. Their ship was now sinking at a constant, but slower pace. Not completely slow, thanks to the heavy mass of gold. "We're floating now!"

"This is awesome!", the reindeer-human hybrid exclaimed in awe, not scared of falling slowly anymore. Time for time, the 15-year-old was becoming less and less afraid of things, which he himself found great.

Suddenly, rings from the golden bell were heard again. Loud, clear, and majestic. The rubber man, amazingly intelligent for someone with a rubber brain, realized the ringing's reason immediately, and smiled brightly at that. "They are wishing us a safe trip to the Blue Sea, and ask us to come back some time again! What nice people they are!"

"Yeah, they really are nice, just like the ringing!", Usopp and Nami agreed, in a happy mood caused by the Sky people's respectful goodbye.

That happy mood wasn't just for that moment though, it was for the rest of the day. Floating down the sky at slightly slow-ish pace meant lots of time for the pirate crew to spend time with each other like very good friends, what they already were, or, almost like a family.

* * *

 **So, that was it for this chapter. It had some detailed moments, and some lesser detailed ones. How did you like this one? Rather, how did you like this Saga altogether? Sky Island is over, and the Water 7/Enies Lobby Saga is about to start. I have big plans for that Saga, since it's my second favourite Saga, and IMO the second best. Navarone/G-8 Arc will be "offscreened", since that arc is sadly non-canon, although pretty good. It's a shame a filler arc is better than a canon arc. Yes, it's Foxy's arc, the Long Ring Long Land Arc, one of the worst arcs of One Piece. Constructive criticism allowed. Rate and review if you like.**


	22. C22: Cold Reunion

**Never again!**

 **So, I've seen that the favourites and followers of my story increased again, which I thank you all for. You're the ones who boost my morale, keep it up! I've also seen some new rewievs, and I love to answer them! Let's get to that!**

 **Answer to Sherlock D Holmes: Okay, I get what you're saying and understand. I'll leave out the most confusing ones.**

 **Answer to El Pirato: No, I haven't read Second Wind for a long time, and won't steal other people's work.**

 **Answer to wowlol12: I can't wait to write it either, I love this arc!**

 **Answer to bloody fang dragon: To be honest, Enel is one of my favourite One Piece antagonists, therefore I won't just kill him off. Also, there are theories he'll return sometime MUCH later than Whole Cake Island, in Elbaf, or during the Final War. If he plays a crucial role there, and I killed him off earlier, I would've made a big mistake.**

 **Answer to Bloody Rouge dragon deity king: Of course, that's your opinion and I respect it, but there are many other differences. Not trying to be rude or anything.**

 **Answer to Edub102: I'm sorry, but that won't happen. It's even in the summary. Otherwise, thank you for your nice comment.**

 **Answer to Chrisfragger: Nah, I'll just offscreen it, just like Oda did with Akainu vs Aokiji.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**

* * *

 **Chapter 22: Cold Reunion**

Escaping Navarone wasn't easy. It was much harder than before, thanks to the pillar of gold. Thankfully for the Straw Hats, Jonathan was friendly enough not to cut up the broken bellfry support, or even send it to Marine HQ.

After that, things were easier, but a lot dumber. In Navarone, the adventurous pirates had to use their heads to escape and get their treasure back, but there, close to Long Ring Long Land, they'd encountered a ship carrying an incompetent crew. It was a total chaos on that vessel, with no one giving orders or maintaining control. That's why that pirate ship sank to a large wave, which could've easily been avoided. Luffy knew, that was Foxy's doing.

"Wow, what a careless crew!", Nami remarked, after they distanced themselves far enough from the monster wave. "They fell to that wave created by these Sea Monkeys. Luckily, we made it away."

"Don't you think there was something strange about them?", Usopp asked, feeling something wrong. "They had no sails, no pirate flag, no captain, no navigator, no motivation, and didn't know what they were doing. They didn't even look like pirates to me."

"Maybe they lost a battle, their captain died, and everything else got stolen.", Zoro suggested, not caring much.

"No, no, no.", the sniper insisted. "I took a good look at their ship, and there were no signs of a battle. And yet there was nothing on that ship pirates would need to survive."

"Then they weren't pirates.", Sanji said, standing beside the mast, then going somewhere else. "Don't let it bother you."

"But they sure seemed like pirates to me… I can't shake that uneasy feeling off me."

The navigator stared at him from behind. She kinda had the same feeling as well.

"I see an island.", Robin announced from the crow's nest, calmly looking through binoculars. "And there's a mist ahead as well."

Hearing the exciting news about arriving on a new island made the black-haired happy like a child on the inside. However, he didn't get overexcited, and continued to be careful. Channeling his exceptional haki, the 17-year-old perceived the auras of almost 600 living beings. Around 500 of them were on a big ship, the rest on that island. Among the rest, there was only one human being. 'I know what I'm doing next!', the future Pirate King thought, a determined look on his face, patiently waiting for his ship to dock. 'My rubber can stretch longer than mere stupid bamboo sticks!'

…

After Going Merry docked on the shore, the strawhat didn't waste any time, and immediately ran off. Some of his weaker crewmates were concerned about this. "Hey, Luffy, where are you running to?!", the ginger exclaimed. No answer.

"Don't worry. If he's running off like that, regarding how wary of things he is sometimes, he'll be fine. I'm pretty sure this island isn't dangerous or anything.", the green-haired reassured, wondering himself just where that kid was going.

"I stay on the ship!", the sharpshooter announced, quickly and loudly, standing stiff.

"Huh?", Chopper let out, closely observing the marksman for a few seconds, then putting up a diagnosis as a doctor. "Oh, that's just his I-can't-step-on-this-island-disease…"

…

For almost two minutes, the rubber man was running at human speeds. On his way, the D. carrier stretched his arms to grab and eat some long apples, remembering how delicious they were. When he finally arrived where he wanted to, he touched his chin with his hand, musing about something. 'Hmmm, I have never tried this before. But, I'm from rubber, I can surely do this!'

Pressing his feet on the ground to gain some stability, the black-haired stretched his legs, and only his legs. After a few seconds already, he started looking like that extremely long green bamboo stick on his right, something native to Long Ring Long Land.

"Yo!", the 17-year-old greeted a short, bearded old man in a mostly yellow outfit standing atop the bamboo sticks. The man was very shocked by this, judging by his face, unable to utter out real words at first. "B-b-b-boy! W-w-w-what?!"

"Shishishi!", the 160 Million Berry man laughed with good intent. "Hi there, Ossan, would you like me to help you down?"

Being stuck on those bamboo sticks for that long, the old man couldn't say but two things. "Yes, please!", he pleaded, tears appearing in his eyes. "I've been stuck up here for 10 years!"

"Shishishi! I'll carry you down.", the future Pirate King told him, lifting the short grandpa from his stilts, then taking him to the ground with him.

"There you are.", the strawhat spoke in a friendly way. Still panting from all the emotions and altitude difference, the white-bearded man lifted his head up. "Thank you very much… My name is Tonjit, have gratitude!"

The rubber man smiled, but that was it. "Say, kid, what happened to your legs? They became as long as my stilts.", Tonjit curiously inquired.

His trademark smile formed on Luffy's face. "Shishishi! I ate the Gomu Gomu no mi. I'm a rubber man now!", he answered, proud of his devil fruit.

 ***Bam!***

A gunshot rang through the entire island, followed by a neighing in agony. Still knowing the voice by heart, despite all the years spent atop bamboo sticks, Tonjit gripped his hands, and started shouting in worry. "Sherry!"

He ran off, the black-haired following him. The latter knew, who was behind all this, and seriously had no desire to play that person's game.

When the two arrived, a white horse with a very long neck, comparable to a giraffe, was lying on the ground, her legs trapped inside a steel net. Few meters away, three pirates, or rather complete clowns, were standing next to each other, the middle one holding a flintlock. The snickering sounds the trio made slightly ticked the 17-year-old off.

"Set her free now! Sherry is not yours!", the old man angrily demanded, not afraid of the lot.

"Fehfehfeh! Only if your friend right there beats me in a Davy Back Fight!", the large-nosed short man with the gun said, thinking he's all high up.

Contrary to the three pirates' expectations, the fair pirate captain denied their cheating game, adjusting his straw hat that way it pointed down and shadowed his eyes. "Not gonna happen, set her free now!"

"Fehfehfeh!", the fat middle-aged pirate laughed, making fun of his opponent's demand. "We're the Foxy Pirates, you know. We settle things by the Davy Back Fight. This horse is my property now, and you can only win it back by participating in a Davy Back Fight."

"I refuse!"

"Fehfehfeh! So do I then, by refusing to hand over that horse!"

The 160 Million Berry man walked forward by a few steps, towering over Foxy and his right hand woman. The head of the Foxy Pirates, as well as his most loyal followers were frightened a great deal by how menacing that walk alone looked. "Don't play games with me, Split Head!", the strawhat snarled. "I ain't falling for your cheating game! Now get the fuck outta here, before I sink you along with your ship!"

Despite feeling very threatened, the foxy man found a way back to his cool. "So you're gonna retort to violence, eh? Don't you know who's in front of you, boy? I'm Foxy the Silver Fox, feared by the World Government because of the Noro Noro no mi. You could never defeat me thanks to my unique powers!", Split Head challenged, lying about almost everything, sweating buckets. The low bounty pirate really hoped to get away from that intimidating, scary boy soon.

Swiftly, a heavy wave coming from the future Pirate King's direction overpowered the trio's weak-willed minds. He, the rubber man, didn't overdo it with his King's haki, since those three were as weak as his East Blue opponents. "Will you do now as I say?"

Foxy's, Porche's and Hamburg's pants were all wet, but of sweat rather than pee. "Y-y-yes!", they stuttered in unison.

"Good.", Luffy muttered, happy not having to put up with their bullshit for long. "First, you're gonna release the horse. Second, you're gonna leave this island immediately. Third, you guys'll never EVER approach me with that Davy Back Fight game again. _Am I clear?"_

For the three weak cheaters, the last three words were so frightening to hear, the sweat in their pants mixed with pee, in a scale of 1 to 4. "Crystal, Sir!", they called, promptly retreating.

Once more, Tonjit was extremely grateful for the kind things the young pirate did for him. "Thank you again, young man! You have saved Sherry from those pirates, I could never pay off my debt to you."

"Shishishi.", the black-haired laughed, smiling brightly. "You're welcome. Say, do you want to come with us? We could bring you to the next island if you want to."

"No thanks.", the old man said, shaking his head. "I can find a way on my own."

The 17-year-old shrugged. "Fine. But Ossan, I have a question. Would you be fine if I placed the Jolly Roger of my crew on this island? You know, for protection?"

It was the short bearded man's turn to shrug, indifferently. "I don't own Long Ring Long Land, do what you want. I'm just a nomad."

"It's settled then.", the strawhat spoke in a content tone. "Ossan, I wish you and your horse luck and happiness as I leave. Goodbye!"

Raising his hand, Tonjit also said his words for farewell. "Goodbye, young man, thank you again. Good luck to you too."

With that, they parted, with the younger one not being able to wait seeing his crew again. He was running through the green plains of this island, constantly smiling. 'I don't know why, but I'm in a surprisingly good mood right now! Let's hope this good mood continues!'

…

Minutes later, the 160 Million Berry man returned to Going Merry, bearing his trademark smile. His nakama have been wondering all the time where he was and what he was doing.

"Luffy!", Nami shouted, slightly angered. "What on earth were you doing? And what was that huge ship that trapped us before three clowns with wet pants came running onto it and departed?!"

Not a single word exiting his mouth, the future Pirate King slowly walked onto his ship, thinking about something else.

"What?! Aren't you gonna answer me?"

"Nami.", the rubber man calmly spoke, turning his head. "For your information, I've only driven these evil-doing pirates off our new island, nothing more, nothing less.". He then walked the stairs down a deck below, and came out shortly after. "Let me just plant our flag here, after that we can continue."

After briefly planting a wooden mast with the Straw Hat flag on the coast of Long Ring Long land, Luffy ordered his nakama to set course for the next island. "Let's go!"

…

Only 7 minutes after sailing with low speed, something went completely wrong. The sea in front of them was completely frozen. Not just the surface, but the bottom and everything inbetween too. Despite being an excellent navigator in the Grand Line, not even the ginger could not fathom this state of the sea.

"Okay, how is this possible?! My estimates say the ice covers multiple cubic kilometers. It's just not possible to freeze the sea like that! There are currents, and this, and that…", the orange-haired ranted.

Chopper blinked twice, beholding the ice in awe and astonishment. "That's kinda awesome.", he told Usopp.

Meanwhile, Zoro was unhappy about the barrier of frozen water, and verbally expressed his thoughts. "What a pain!", the green-haired complained, making gestures with his hands. "That means we are trapped on this side. Could it get worse?"

Knowing which individual could possibly do such thing, the black-haired quietly gulped. 'You're right Zoro, a true pain! That man means danger to all of us except me, especially Robin…'. "No need to panic, guys, I can just lift the ship and walk us over the surface.", the 17-year-old reassured.

"Fufufu, thank you for this kind of service, Captain-san.", Robin complimented, making the strawhat blush a little.

Hearing that, Sanji leaned over the railing, puffing out some smoke. "I wish Robin-chan would compliment me like that.", he moaned, greedy for the attention of beautiful ladies.

Jumping down from Merry, the 160 Million Berry man coated his feet with haki, to prevent cuts from spikes and sharp edges. Using only one hand, he lifted the vessel, and started skating over the long surface of massive salty ice. A group of people were also travelling on the ice created by a certain Logia user, and to say they were shocked by a notorious pirate captain carrying a ship in one hand, and a huge pillar of gold in the other hand, was a serious understatement.

…

It took longer to cross the ice than getting there from Long Ring Long Land the first place. The rubber man didn't want it to be like that, but on the edge of the frozen sea, there was a tall, dark-skinned man wearing a blue-ish suit and a Marine coat, a bike just beside him.

"Why hello there.", the very tall and lanky man greeted, carefree as most of the time. Remembering what ordeal he and his nakama went through last time, the future Pirate King decided to ignore him the best he could.

"Hey, it isn't nice to not talk back, you know. I expected better manners from you.", the Marine spoke.

"There isn't anything we have to talk about, Mr. Admiral.", Luffy replied in a serious manner, planning on how to let his crew escape, should a fight ensue between them.

"Admiral?!", most of the Straw Hats exclaimed in surprise and shock, overhearing their captain's words. One of them, the archaeologist, even fell down on her buttocks. Cold sweat was running down her face, her eyes were widened, and her skin tone pale.

Noticing the tension in the air, the Admiral decided to cool it down. "Easy, easy, I'm not here on orders to capture you.", he informed, holding his hands up. "There's nothing you should be worried about."

"I beg to differ.", the black-haired retorted, now on the edge, placing his ship with his treasure onto the cold seawater. "We are leaving."

The Straw Hat Crew, especially Usopp, were relieved to hear that. But then, Kuzan said something their captain _really_ didn't like. "Fine by me, you're free to go. However, let me make one thing clear. You're making a big mistake, letting that woman travel alongside you."

Just like the former Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, Monkey D. Luffy couldn't stand people badmouthing his friends. He instinctively proceeded to defend the Oharan. "Stop it."

There was silence among Going Merry's deck. Five were afraid, the 17-year-old would fight the Top Marine, and under their impression, risk his life. One however, was more silent than the others, not wanting to hear anything from that man. 'L- Captain-san, don't do anything stupid for my sake, I beg you!'

"But it's true.", Aokiji continued. "Every organization she's been with, doesn't exist anymore. They all died, except for one person, Nico Robin."

Sanji, Chopper, Zoro, Nami, Usopp. They all stared at Robin in shock, wishing what they heard wasn't true. The latter just wanted to be alone, her feelings just one big complicated pile of mess.

"You're wrong.", the strawhat announced, lowering his voice as much as he could. "The last organization, Baroque works, didn't end up like you claimed. Only two died." **[Two, since Luffy never learned of Mr. 11's death. He isn't all-knowing]**

"Still,", the Logia user began again, breathing in and out, "that woman is a real threat to the World Government. One that must be eliminated as soon as possible."

"Yeah, her enemy. Guess what, an enemy of my friend is my enemy as well. I ain't letting you guys getting your hands on any of my friends."

Slowly, the Marine's hand turned into ice, and his face had a fiery look. "It seems that words aren't enough for you, Straw Hat Luffy. You and your crew are soon going to become a serious threat to the World Government. Perhabs I should take your life right now?"

Turning his head, the 160 Million Berry man looked at his crew, one by one, before turning to second strongest. "Zoro", he spoke, his eyes staring holes into him. "I can trust you to take care of your nakama, right?"

The swordsman gulped. He wanted to disagree and say something, but he couldn't just break a man's resolve.

"And you, Nami. Take Merry away from here, would ya?"

Not even her, the bickery, sassy Nami could dare to break his resolve. "Set sail, everyone! Captain's orders!"

Judging by his face, the Admiral couldn't care less. "So it's a One on One, then?", he asked, getting ready.

'This guy's not a pushover! I heard he fought with Akainu for 10 days straight! Aw man, this could take me days!', the future Pirate King thought, complaining. "One on One. Give me your worst!"

"Ice Block: Partisan!", Kuzan yelled, forming four large spears of ice. However, they were all broken by a quickly advancing Luffy. "Armament! Gomu Gomu no Gatling!"

"Oh, so you're proficient in haki. No wonder you're such a threat.", Aokiji observed, about to dodge his opponent's attack. "Gomu Gomu no Bullet!"

And he dogded, surprised by the rubber man's speed. In his opinion, he would've made a fine Marine. "Ice Ball!"

"Gomu Gomu no Bazooka!", the black-haired shouted, destroying the Ice Ball. He knew, an Admiral could fight better than than. 'Maybe he took that "Give me your worst" too seriously.'

Shaking his head, the Marine tried to lecture his foe. "You are strong, I give you that, but don't you dare overestimate yourself and think you can best an Admiral! Ice Time Capsule!"

"Geppo!", the strawhat exclaimed, evading the freezing wave. "Where is the 'Admiral's strength' you're talking about? So far, you're no better than that weakling Enel!"

Kuzan barely sighed. "I told you not to think you're above an Admiral! Ice Block: Pheasant Beak!"

"Gomu Gomu no Ozuchi!"

…

The battle continued for half an hour, and only attack names had been yelled. At one point, Aokiji became more willing to talk, and started asking some questions. "Aren't you tired, boy?"

"Nope! I could fight for days, and this isn't even my full strength!", the 160 Million Berry man answered, shaking his head.

"Tell me, why are you protecting that woman?"

"Because we're friends!", the future Pirate King firmly replied, aiming for another punch. "And she has a name!"

"Just because you are friends?", the Logia inquired, dodging that punch.

"And because you are Robin's enemies!"

"But isn't it natural trying to get rid of your enemies?", the Marine questioned, quickly dodging a haki-infused kick.

"Stop trying to find excuses!", the rubber man yelled. "You know she's innocent, don't you? I can see through people, and there is darkness inside of her! That darkness was created by you, the World Government! That's all I need to know!"

"Hmph!", the Admiral let out. "You don't understa-"

"Who doesn't understand?!", Luffy roared, enraged and burning out of anger. "I'm not a Marine, yet I know more about justice than you do! What did Robin ever do to you? She doesn't deserve any of this!"

"I know that!", Kuzan growled, about as equally angry as the pirate before him. "Do you think it's right to pursue and persecute a little girl?! For so many years, no, just to begin with?! That goes against everything your grandpa taught me as my mentor, all the way back from where he saved me back then…"

Realizing that Aokiji was just standing still, and didn't have any need for fighting anymore, the black-haired also stopped. "Your sense of justice is just like his… and you remind me of a certain someone, one who was king before… Strawhat, would you really make that darkness go away… would you really melt the ice around her heart?"

The 17-year-old crossed his arms. "Of course I would, for my friends I'd do anything. But why, why are YOU so interested in that?", he demanded.

For 5 seconds, the Logia user didn't say a single word, but turned arount. "That is, believe it or not, one of my interests. You'll notice one day, Strawhat. And thank you for dealing with Crocodile, I owe you for that one."

Having said that, he suddenly disappeared. For one, that meant the strawhat could reunite with his nakama again. However, as good as that was, he wasn't really finished with the Admiral.

"HEY AOKIJI, I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME!", the 160 Million Berry man yelled on top of his lungs. "I DON'T TRUST YOU THAT MUCH, BUT YOU'RE MILES BETTER THAN AKAINU!"

Wheezing from that loud shout, a smile formed on his face. "Heh… ***Pant*** I can finally return! Geppo!"

During his run back to Going Merry, the future Pirate King thought once more about his battle. 'Finally, a good battle! I shall thank you for this, Aokiji!'

…

Luckily for him, his nakama have been sailing slowly. While that could be dangerous, since some very powerful enemies could easily catch up, he knew they did it just for him, since not even a _supreme_ haki master like him could keep track on half of the world.

"Hey guys!", the rubber man greeted, stepping onto Merry's deck like he was descending invisible stairs. "I'm back!"

"Luffy!", the navigator shouted already, worried and shocked about him. "You fought an Admiral, and defeated him in less than an hour?!"

"Sugoooi, you're the most awesome guy ever!", the reindeer cheered. "Can I have an autograph?"

Luffy shook his head. "No, I did not defeat him, we settled it peacefully after like 30 minutes or so.", he answered, anticipating such questions.

Despite everything, the archaeologist was deeper in worries than everyone else. "Captain-san, di-"

"Later, Robin, we'll talk later. Trust me, it isn't the time for that right now.", the black-haired interrupted the raven-haired.

The former then walked over to his cook, a delightful expression on his face. "Sanji~! You know what I want~!"

"Of course I know what you want, annoying Captain!", the blond snarled in a quiet way. "Get inside, there's some chili con carne and grilled duck for you."

"Yay, meat!", the gluttonous 17-year-old happily called, walking inside. His nakama couldn't not smile at that sight.

…

6 hours later:

When everyone was sleeping, just as promised, the strawhat went to meet his female nakama that wanted to talk hours ago. "So, Robin, I am here. What did you want to say?", he began, openly listening.

"L- Captain-san, it's about that man… and a little about my past… and about the darkness inside of me."

Having years of experience, the 160 Million Berry man was good with people, and noting the woman being distraught wasn't hard. "It's okay. You don't have to if you don't want to."

"20 years ago,", she spoke, "Aokiji saved my life. I don't know if it was kindness, or pity, but he let me survive. I thought it was good at first, but much later, I realized I suffered a fate worse than death. With the whole world against me, nobody wanted to be my friend. And those that were, were killed shortly after – because of me. Right now, the only thing I'm really scared about are what would happen to you people just because I am around. You are all my friends…". The 79 Million Berry woman's eyes started watering. "and I don't want you to die for my sake!"

A slap.

The same speed, the same intensity, the same position as the slap back on Jaya.

"Dying for my friends? Dying for my nakama? I would gladly do that.", the future Pirate King stated, not raising his voice. "Just like me, the others would also do that. All of us treasure friendship more than anything. Cause all of us know, being alone is worse than being hurt. The world doesn't want us to be friends? So what, that's a stupid reason and you know that! Don't ever say something like that again, it's one for all, and all for one."

Speechlessly, the 28-year-old stared at him, touched by his words. "And about that ice guy, he'll never go after you again.", the rubber man confirmed. "Also, I've figured something out about him. He doesn't want you dead or anything."

Saying Nico Robin was shocked by that stament would be a light way to put that. "What? I don't understand."

"It was all a play. To see if we would fight for you, or if we'd betray you. I don't think you'd believe this right away, but in reality, he wants you well and happy."

Once again, her eyes widened. "What are you saying?"

"I don't know much about your past, but I don't need to know it to see your darkness. HE asked me to get rid of your darkness.", Luffy informed, answering some of the answers that bothered the Oharan for 20 years. "He also told me I'll know about his true motives one day. It's safe to say the same applies to you."

"Oh Captain-san…", the raven-haired let out, directly from her heart. "You're my saint."

"Saint, me?", the black-haired repeated, pointing at himself. "Please, I'm a pirate, those two words don't go well with each other."

Almost. Robin almost broke out in laughter. Despite what they've been talking about, and the direction of emotions, one admittedly good joke from him was enough to almost bring out her funny side.

"Come on, let's go to sleep.", the strawhat said, standing up. The 79 Million Berry woman followed. Once more, they walked out of the room, arm in arm.

…

In her bed, the 28-year-old stayed awake for 20 more minutes, thinking about one of the most important men in her life. 'Aokiji… Even if you wished the best for me, and even if you apologized to me yourself, I'd never forgive you for what you did. Still, I'm happy where I am, with my friends, if that's what you'd want to hear from me. Thank you for not going after them.'

…

 **I am terribly sorry for letting you, my dear readers, wait so much for the update. Like it said in the summary, this fanfic was on hiatus for personal reasons. I know, I should've been worrying about other things during this time, but honestly, my mind was aching from not updating my work.**

 **One thing: You might ask me, how did I come to the conclusion that Aokiji was just testing the Straw Hats? Well, it's obvious that he wants the best for Robin, as basically confirmed by their conversation on Water 7 after Enies Lobby. He knows that she'd been betrayed by so many people in her life, and therefore, my conclusion is that he just wanted to test the Straw Hats' loyalty towards her. He seemingly wanted to "kill" her, and after seeing their effort to save her, he decided to spare their lives.**

 **Constructive criticism allowed. Rate or reply if you want.**


	23. C23: Billionaires

**Never again!**

 **I just came back to writing, and what do I get? Lots of reviews I can't wait to answer! That's why I love you guys! Also, Water 7 begins now.**

 **Answer to El Pirato: Happy Halloween to you too, and thanks.**

 **Answer to Edub102: I didn't think people would agree with me on that, thank you a lot.**

 **Answer to gamelover41592: Thank you a lot as well, you're awesome.**

 **Answer to Aidois: Yeah, it will.**

 **Answer to shinjojin: I can't wait either.**

 **Answer to era-romance: Thanks. Regarding the second part of your comment, I don't think so. He's 19 years older than her and doesn't really look like her in my opinion, I don't think they're half-siblings, or even related. However, he kind of looks like Brook. Maybe Brook's long lost grand-nephew, or grandson? I don't know, let Oda surprise us.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**

* * *

 **Chapter 23: Billionaires**

The next morning, it was mostly quiet on the Merry. The wind was blowing, birds were chirping, and frogs were doing the front crawl. Wait, frogs were doing the front crawl?

"Oi! There's a big frog doing the front crawl!", Zoro loudly informed, looking a little perplexed.

"Follow it!", Luffy commanded, not being able to wait visiting three old friends again.

Usopp shook his head, not believing it. "Please, Luffy, we all know frogs don't do the front CRAAAWL?!", he exclaimed in shock, his long tongue fluttering comically.

8 seconds after Chopper changed the course to follow Yokozuna, Nami stormed out of the kitchen, bearing an angry, scolding look. "Hey, you guys! Who changed the course?!", she barked, holding up her fist.

"There is this large frog with many scars on his body doing the front crawl, and we're following it!", the sniper stated, rowing with all his power.

"Frogs are first marinated in white wine to dissolve the mucus, and then coated in floor and deep fried.", Sanji murmured, disgusting the navigator.

While the ginger didn't want to follow the frog, she knew she didn't have a choice. So the orange-haired sighed and watched Going Merry sail towards a lighthouse with a smaller building right next to it.

…

 ***Crash!***

A loud cracking sound came, when the small pirate ship suddenly crashed onto something hidden in the water, surprising most of the crew. Older-minded Luffy knew what to do. "We should get off this thing, or else it wouldn't end good for us.", the black-haired suggested, the tone he was speaking in making the others clear that would be a nice idea.

Using the long paddles to get free, the Straw Hats suddenly heard loud ringing, and saw red lights blinking on a pole for traffic lights. Then, a huge, long, dark-coloured train followed, speeding towards them at an extreme velocity.

"Return faster!", Nami almost screamed, scared the to her unknown object would just crash the Merry and take all their lives. With their combined strength and all their efforts, however, the vessel managed to evade just in time. "What is that thing?!", the sharpshooter yelled out, his eyes blank.

Unlike the humans, the green-ish frog didn't bother to dodge. Instead, he stood tall on the tracks. The moment the Sea Train rammed into him, the amphibian was thrown into the air. Nevertheless, due to his immense strength, he managed to slow it down by a great bit.

…

About one minute was needed to calm down, at least for six. "What kind of ship was that?", the reindeer in Heavy Point asked, still panting. "It was spewing out smoke."

"No, that wasn't a ship.", Nami confirmed, a little sweat still on her face. "A ship with that form couldn't stay afloat!"

Suddenly, a little girl with upwards-braided blonde hair stepped out of the building, eyeing the pirate flag. Despite the stereotype of pirates being mean and scary guys, the girl with her ever-lasting smile didn't look scared at all. "Hm, pirates? Grandma, grandma, pirates!"

"What? Really, Chimney?", an old lady with a frog-like smile carrying a bottle of red wine spoke, also exiting the house. "Go get the Den Den Mushi!"

"Hm, hello? Uh… wait, I forgot. What was I about to say?", the old, and rather round grandmother said, making the Straw Hats sweatdrop.

"You're drunk?!", the marksman yelled with sharp teeth, bewildered by the alcoholic.

…

Like so many times before, the crew of 7 managed to befriend random strangers within minutes. Without any hostilities, both sides were having a chat.

"I'm Chimney.", the cheerful girl introduced herself, eating crackers. "This is our cat Gonbe, and my grandma Kokoro."

Even though the blue 'cat' meowed, it was obvious he was a rabbit. The Straw Hats decided to go along with it.

"You guys aren't here to rob the sea train? Nagagagaga!", Kokoro joked, laughing like an old lady.

"I'm Luffy, the man who'll become Pirate King.", the 17-year-old greeted, seemingly gaining Chimney's interest.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

The braided girl believed it immediately, and she wasn't dumb to just believe other people's words.

"Nagagaga! You're an interesting man.", the old mermaid remarked.

"Hey, Chimney.", the navigator spoke up, intending to talk rather seriously. "That thing looked like a steam ship, but how can a ship sail with a body like that?"

"I bet you haven't seen anything like it before! It's the only one like it in the world.", the blonde announced, the ginger getting that this thing is something completely new. "That's the Sea Train, Puffing Tom. It uses a steam engine to turn its paddles and move along the Sea-tracks."

"Sea-tracks?", Usopp asked, bewildered by that revelation.

"That's right! They run just below the water surface, and let the train go on its route every day, carrying passengers from island to island. It can carry mail and even ships!"

"So that's what we hit.", the cook observed, clearly able to see the tracks underwater.

"Yeah!", Chimney chimed in in a lecturing tone. "We have floating marks and crossing signals set up! Crossing the tracks is dangerous!"

"Your crossing signal should be facing the other way.", the long-nosed pointed out, pointing at it.

"So, where exactly are you headed?", the alcoholic inquired, changing the subject.

"Water 7.", the strawhat blurted out. Suddenly, he realized he made a mistake there, and his crew followed shortly after. 'Oh uh…!'

'We know Luffy's hiding many things, and we know he knows about things we don't, but this is going too far! It's almost like he's been here before…'

"Water 7, the City of Water, huh? Too bad you missed the train not long ago.", Kokoro spoke, thinking of old times.

The ginger shook her head, clarifying things. "We weren't going to take the Sea Train anyway, we already have a ship."

"Nagagagaga!", the old mermaid laughed out again, opting to pay a visit to her former home. "Chimney and I will go there in a few hours as well. Maybe we'll meet again. And if we do, I'll treat you some at my favourite pub!"

"Shishishi!", the rubber man laughed out, bearing his familiar grin. "We surely will! Set sail, guys, let's go to the next island!", he enthusiastically exclaimed, dearly wanting to visit this beautiful city and meet a certain shipwright again.

Not so strangely, the other Straw Hats had the feeling their captain was rushing things. Though they didn't have a reason to mind this, since each nakama trusted the boy, and that trust was deep trust. So the adventurous crew let the waves and wind get them to their destination, while enjoying the peaceful ambience of their small pirate ship.

…

48 minutes later, the Straw Hats reached the outlines of Water 7's waters. Even from multiple sea miles away, the artificial city on water was perfectly visible. The most impressive thing on the City of Water was the round, central structure with very high walls, canals inbetween. On this central structure there was a large hill with many buildings, also canals inbetween. And above that hill, a grand fountain acted as the city's highlight and the origin of all the water flowing in the canals. All in all, Franky and Iceburg's island was comparable to Shandora in beauty.

Chopper's and Usopp's faces widened more and more the closer Merry got to Water 7. Barely any sound escaped their mouths.

Sanji and Zoro were kind of similar, except they smirked at the sight of that majestic city.

"Sugoi!", Nami let out, her eyes shining out of admiration.

"Spectacular.", Robin remarked calmly. Even if that city's history was nowhere near interesting as Sky Island's history, or Alabasta's history, the raven-haired was sure as hell going to wander around, learn history, and maybe, just maybe, find another Poneglyph.

The future Pirate King himself also kept quiet, but that didn't stop him from thinking Water 7 was nice. 'Franky, you were lucky to live in a city like that! Today or tomorrow, I'll ask you, and you only to build us the Sunny.'

Suddenly, the long-nosed started shouting in awe. "It's the epitome of an industrial city!"

"Yeah.", the cook agreed, leaning over the front railing. "That's why the Sea Train stops here."

5 Minutes later, a great deal closer to the city, the green-haired let out a sigh, also leaning over the railing. Water 7 gave even him, the sake-loving swordsman who didn't care about much things to wonder about. "What I want to know is, what do those numbers mean?"

He referred to the 7 numbers written on the great round wall of the central structure. They were between the canals. Or were the canals between the numbers? A never ending question was born…

"And are these on doors?", the blond asked, in a civilized conversation with his friendly rival. "Or walls?"

"I wonder where the port is.", the navigator mused out loud on the opposite side of the ship, in company of the 160 Million Berry man, the 79 Million Berry woman, and a cute little reindeer.

It seems like she'd gotten her answer real quick. "Oi!", a fisherman yelled from his boat just off the coast of a lower part of the city. "Pirates can't be seen just walking through the front door! Pull around to the other side of this town!"

"Okay, thanks!", the orange-haired shouted back, telling her nakama to change the course for her.

…

23 minutes later, the crew arrived there, at a remote dirt coast far enough from the entrance of Water 7. While going there, the Straw Hats went through the smaller canals, learning why this city was also called the City of Water. Some buildings weren't underwater just because of the sea level, they were built on columns that went underwater.

Immediately after landing, the first thing the authoritarian ginger had in mind was trading the pillar of gold for Berries. "Listen, I-"

 ***Crack!***

The 60 Million Berry man pulled in the sails as it happened, Going Merry's mast broke, and was about to fall down. Luckily, the strong man managed to prevent it from falling and breaking off completely. Almost everyone was shocked.

"Hey, all I did was pull the rope!", the first mate defended himself, urging everone to calm down. He then put the wooden and patched mast back to where it belonged. "That was crazy! Is Going Merry really in such bad shape?"

"It is by the looks of it. That's why I am saying we should sell our gold and get Merry repaired as soon as possible!", Nami voiced out her opinion, a firm look on her face.

Something of that idea seemed unrealistic to the sniper, extremely unrealistic. "Say, Nami, you don't believe anyone would just buy this massive pillar of gold, do you? I mean, it must be worth billions! Even rich people couldn't just buy this right away."

"At least we gotta try, right?", she asked, unwilling to give up.

"Totally, Nami!", Luffy supported her with a grin on his face. "We won't give up that easily, am I right? We're pirates, not losers!"

"Agreed.", the rest of the Straw Hats spoke up, wondering which one of them will go selling their gold.

"Alright, guys! I want Usopp, Nami and Zoro to come with me.", he said, looking each of them in their surprised eyes. "Is that okay for you?"

Zoro immediately shrugged. "Fine by me, Captain.". Both others followed shortly after.

"Luffy,", the navigator requested, "can I sit on the pillar? I don't want to carry it."

"Y-yeah, me as well.", the marksman added, correctly thinking he'd get crushed under the weight of this colossal treasure.

"Hmmm.", the black-haired shortly mused, rolling his eyes to the left during the thinking process. "That's what I wanted of you anyways. Hop on!"

And so they did, enjoying the view and feeling the winds from above. Before taking off with Geppo, the 17-year-old turned back one more time, glancing at his trusted crewmates with a smile. "I know you can take care of Merry.". With that, he took off, bidding farewell. "We'll come back soon! I hope you best luck and stay safe!"

…

Meanwhile, in three quarters of Water 7, millions of people couldn't believe their eyes. A boy was running on the air with what had to be the largest amount of gold they'd ever seen. Some said that boy had a devil fruit, the other half believed he was some kind of god, or at least god-like. 10 minutes later, when the pirate landed on the city's central square, almost the entire population had already gotten the news. Upon the strawhat's landing, the square was more crowded than ever, and all the streets surrounding the square were also just filled with curious citizens.

"Excuse me.", the girl sitting on the broken bellfry support called, getting everyone's attention. "Do you know where the central bank is?"

"Three blocks to the right.", a man with brown hair answered.

"Thanks!", the ginger shouted back, her golden seat rising again. The rubber man did as said, and moved to the right by three blocks.

Just as seen from above, the street in front of the bank was filled with spectators. Once they realized the group of four wanted to land there, a good number of people backed away. All of the bank's employees, as well as the boss himself were present too.

"Good morning, how can I help you?", the boss inquired, wiping away some sweat off his face with a white tissue. He was nervous, already imagining what they wanted from him.

"How much is our gold worth?"

A middle-aged expert appraiser with black hair and a remarkable moustache stepped forward, a tape measure in his hand. Humming out a happy tune, he measured the length, heigth, and width of the pillar, then doing some calculations. Everyone watching was watching intensely, sweating and breathing heavily from all the suspense. 308 seconds later, when the gold expert finished his calculations, he broke down on the floor, no one expecting that.

"Ishigo!", the employees of Water 7's central bank exclaimed, deeply worried about their co-worker.

"Hey, ossan! How much is our gold worth?", the sharpshooter demanded, getting angry glares from almost everyone, making him shake in fear.

"Ei-… ei-… EIGHTY FUCKING _BILLION_!", he screamed out in disbelief before passing out completely.

Golden Berry-symbols replaced the orange-haired's irises and pupils and started rolling. Simultaneously, mysterious 'ka-ching'-sounds were ringing, making all onlookers sweatdrop. Nami was getting too euphoric for herself. "Money, money, so much money! Kyaaaaaaaaaaaa!", she squeaked out with a sweet voice, before fainting, her mouth open in a wide-open smile, and her eyes in tears of happiness.

The green-haired swordsman was also taken aback by that sum, but nowhere near as his female nakama, for whom he was in worries now. "Oi, Nami! Are you okay? Still breathing?"

"Eheheheheheh…", she let out in a low tone, assuring the 60 Million Berry man she was okay.

"You greedy little witch…", he uttered in a smooth voice.

"Thanks, bank-ossan!", the 160 Million Berry man suddenly called out, stepping onto the sky again. His natural talent of bewildering people once again perfectly displayed itself.

…

Shortly afterwards, again at the central square of Water 7, the future Pirate King placed his gold on the ground and started shouting. "If you want gold, come here and get it! Every amount you want! Gold for everyone!"

Water 7's citizens dispersed like a swarm of fish. Everyone was running to their homes in order to return with plenty of money. It looked like the Straw Hats were going to earn heaps of money within minutes. "How hard can it get", the rubber man asked his nakama, smirking. That smirk didn't live on for too long.

…

It was a boring, god awful drag. Until evening, the adventurous pirates were forced to calculate prices, cut the gold, and collect their earned money. It all was moving on slower than expected. In the end, they managed to collect 60 Billion Berries. 15 by all banks combined, 2 by private people, 14 by all local companies combined, and 29 were going to be delivered in the following days after the gold was shipped to several different countries, Baltigo being one of them. The rest was either traded or melted into gold bars. 5 Billion in all kinds of food, clothing, books, or other stuff, 5 in jewels and other valuable things, and the rest of 10 billion in gold bars. Due to the fact that Nami didn't have to do a single thing, and the boys worked for her almost like slaves, she hummed happily as she looked at her new expensive clothing, her fancy accessoires and her marvellous jewelry in satisfaction again. Her captain, the first mate, and the cowardly liar were forcefully towing themselves, their throats dry, their tongues hanging down, and building-sized bags on their backs. "Honestly, why are you so tired? The gold bars are going to be delivered tomorrow… Your job isn't that hard, you know."

"Why you!", Zoro growled furiously, annoyed at her arrogance and slavedriving. Before the muscular man could say another word, he tripped on a tiny stone and started rolling down the hill at unstoppable speeds. At that rate of speed, he would reach the Going Merry 45 minutes earlier than the others. "UOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAH! STUPID HEAVY BAG OF GEMMMMMMMMSSS!"

…

45 minutes later, when Luffy, Usopp and Nami arrived, Chopper was patching up the green-haired. Eyeing the ripped bag and dozens of single gems and necklaces lying on the ground, the mean-tempered navigator sped towards the swordsman, and delivered a painful kick with highheels on his head. "Zoro! If even one piece of my precious new treasure is gone, I'm gonna boil you alive!"

"Uack!", he snapped, bearing a strange expression on his face thanks to the kick.

"Nami, don't!", the reindeer exclaimed. "His body is full of cuts and bruises, don't make it worse!"

"Naaami-swaan~!", a certain blond cook raved, his body moving slippery like an eel. "Have you missed me, dear love?"

The ginger quickly turned around, a fake smile on her face to take advantage of him. "Sanji, I'll give you a hug if you go and collect my jewelry Mr. Idiot here dropped. Check inside the water as well, even if it's cold."

"A long and passioned one?"

"Yes yes, now go and make yourself useful!", the orange-haired muttered impatiently.

Still slippery like an eel, the pervert walked down Merry's stairs, holding back a nosebleed. "I'll gladly do this, Nami-swan!"

Meanwhile, the black-haired pirate captain just emptied his bag, and was laying down the final book he bought for his nakama. For everyone but himself. Nico Robin just entered when the 17-year-old wanted to leave another bag, this time a bag with expensive 5 star gourmet food in Sanji's kitchen. "Hello again, Captain-san. I wanted to say- Oh, are those books for me?", she questioned, almost gasping. By the looks of it, her thoughtful captain made her (and all others) a present of five fine books.

"Yes, they are.", the strawhat nonchalantly confirmed. "You like history, so I thought you'll like those books."

"Oh, how thoughtful of you.", the raven-haired said, slightly serious again. "Thanks, Captain-san. How did everything go?"

A couple of times, the 160 Million Berry man frowned, from left to right. "It was tiresome and boring, but we got a whopping 60 Billion out of it in bare cash. 31 are present, 29 are on their way. The rest was traded or reshaped. 10 Billion worth of various stuff, including 5 Billion Berry jewelry, half of which is yours. What's left is going to be delivered in gold bars."

To say the Oharan was astonished was an understatement. "I see.", she smiled. "So bringing the pillar here to the Blue Sea was a good idea. We are one of the richest, if not _the_ richest pirate crew now."

The future Pirate King left the room, looking one more time at his archaeologist's face. "I don't actually care about the money, Nami does. Whatever, I'm going to the galley, see you later!"

"Later, Captain-san."

25 minutes later:

"Sanji! *gulp* More Sea King meat and fileted fish, less caviar!"

"Okay okay, shitty captain, no need to shout!", Sanji reassured the glutton, lightly shaking his head. In his left hand, he was readying the fish the rubber man requested, a large bream, in his other hand, he was holding a deep cooking pan, shaking it three times in a circular manner. Inside of it was dumpling soup prepared for Chopper and Usopp. Just then, the oven started to bleep. Removing his hand from the soup, the ero-cook picked up a cake tin containing extra-carefully made tiramisú for the females. "Nami-swan, Robin-chwan, dessert is ready!"

As he walked over to the table, he leaned over towards the navigator. "Can I get a kiss for my tasty dessert, my sweet flower?"

"No, you already got your hug from earlier."

That answer was enough for the Vinsmoke to realize he wasn't getting lucky this time. Seconds later, he returned with the dumpling soup, this time on the other side of the table. "Here are your dumplings, you little dumplings!"

"Oi, crap cook!", the swordsmann yelled in a quieter way. "Where's my food?"

"Shut up, Marimo!", the chef retorted. "You already had your fair share of crocodile meat and sausage in beer! The only thing you're getting is either my shittiest sauerkraut of rotten cabbage, or raw cod!"

"Oh, oh, Sanjiiii! I'll take the cod, in sushi-form!", Luffy shouted again. The blond liked him as a friend, that wasn't a question, but for someone to feed, the boy was sure as hell getting insufferable.

"So.", Nami spoke up, changing the topic. "Tomorrow we're going to find a shipwright, right?"

Everyone nodded.

"Does anyone know who we should ask?"

The black-haired slowly raised his hand.

"Yes, Luffy?"

"I've heard a shipwright named Franky is someone, uhm, super.". The last part was pronounced rather subtly.

"Franky?!", Sanji blurted out in disgust. "Some strange guys who said they were from the Franky Family tried to attack us today. They were bounty hunters, I think, and weak as shit. I say we shouldn't ask this Franky, he must be as bad as his henchmen."

As of that time, he didn't technically 'know' Franky, so the 17-year-old couldn't defend him.

"We should decide tomorrow morning.", the first mate suggested, closing this conversation.

"Agreed."

…

Few drinks later, exquisite champagner, fine rum, or grapefruit juice, the Straw Hats, youngest to oldest, strongest to weakest, all went to sleep. They deserved and needed it, for the turbulent day that was about to come.

…

The next day, Luffy was the last to wake up. "Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawn! Good morning, everyone! Sanji, what's for breakfast? Meat?"

His crew loved seeing him so eager and energetic waking up. After all, each of them loved their future king.

"Morning, Luffy! And no, there's no meat for breakfast, you'll be eating pancakes, loads of sweet pancakes.", Sanji greeted him, a smirk on his face.

"Shishishi!", the black-haired slightly laughed, not disappointed. "They're good too!"

…

5 minutes later:

Every Straw Hat was sitting around the long table in the galley. Nami and everyone but the captain looked at each other a couple of times, before the former decided to speak up, clearing her throat first. "Luffy, while you were asleep, we talked about which shipwright to choose.", she informed him, who stopped devouring a triple tower of pancakes doused in maple syrup. "I don't know why, but somehow we had the idea you wanted to hire this Franky guy by any means possible. At 10am, me and Usopp went outside, and asked the citizens about Franky. They said he was a freak, a troublemaker and a pervert, but also one of the best shipwrights here, albeit primarily working as a dismantler. Here's what we decided without you: We're going to pay this Franky a visit, but if he misbehaves, we'll be going to Galley-La Company immediately. Do you approve?"

For a second, the 17-year-old was thrown aback in his mind, and silent. 'Damn, they're already figuring some things out before my scheduled day to tell them everything. I'll have to be more careful from here on.' "Yes, that is a good idea, let's do this.", he said, slightly nervous. But he hid it so well, only one person noticed.

'Strange', that person, a male, thought. 'There is something wrong here, I sense it.'

Despite his strong feelings about this, he decided to stay silent, at least until his captain repeated something like that.

…

1 hour later, Going Merry docked near Franky House. It was decided who was going in there, and who not. Those who didn't have to go, Zoro, Robin, Chopper and Sanji, were either guarding the ship, or were preparing themselves to go for a walk inside the upper part of Water 7.

"Awww.", the long-nosed complained, biting his lips. "Why do I have to go?"

"I want you to see and hear something.", the strawhat swiftly answered. By the sound of it, he was firm about this, and it didn't take long for the sniper to notice.

"Alright, see you later, everyone!", the navigator shouted, waving at the three who were stepping down from their ship. "And Zoro, if only one Berry is missing…"

"I get it, you witch!", the 60 Million Berry man shouted back, annoyed. She really needed to cut some slack, all he wanted was a nap.

Suddenly, a tick mark appeared on the Vinsmoke's forehead. "What'd you say, you bad-mannered brute?! That's not how you talk to a lady!"

As the two argued, the three who wanted to see Franky walked away, waving hands one last time. One minute later, the trio appeared in front of Franky House's door. Without saying anything, the 160 Million Berry man rang the bell.

5 seconds later, the door opened. In front of them was Zambai, Franky's right hand man. He was muscular, but also wasn't missing fat. His outfit consisted of the standard Franky Family iron lederhosen and goggles. At first he looked pissed, but after having a close look at the future Pirate King's face, he dropped on the ground, eyes widened.

"Y-you're Strawhat Luffy! Did you come here for revenge?!", the man gasped out, a very shocked expression on his face. His reaction sparked the same reaction from other Franky Family members.

Noticing his family in that state, a certain blue-haired cyborg stood up from his seat, and walked towards the door to confront the man intimidating his family, like any family head would. Inwardly, the rubber man smiled as he saw the very tall man with big arms, a metal nose and no pants.

"So you are Strawhat Luffy, eh?", Franky asked, not intimidated. "Have you come here for revenge?"

Luffy shook his head. "You're mistaken. We came here to ask you to inspect our ship, and repair it if you could.", he said, already knowing it can't be repaired.

The proud pervert was slightly taken aback by this. "Why do you ask me, though? We're dismantlers first, and bounty hunters second. Couldn't you have gone to Bakaberg's place at Galley-La Company?"

"You may be a dismantler,", the black-haired spoke, "but we've heard you're one of the best shipwrights here, which makes you one of the best shipwrights in the world. Also, you seem like someone to whom working with ships means more than a simple job."

Just like the entire Franky Family, the boy's nakama were also surprised by his formalities. However, the blue-haired was surprised the most by his words. 'Who is this kid?! He makes me want to pursue my dream again, although I swore never to build a ship again. But then again, Tom-san said…'. He didn't finish his thoughts as he decided to do what's best for him, and held his thumb up to show he's in. "I'm doing it."

"Yay!", the sharpshooter cheered, jumping in the air with his hands up, while the ginger had a content smile on. 'It seems it worked out. Nice!'

After getting his tool box from his room two minutes later, Franky walked over to the battered pirate ship docked at the coast. Having built ships for many years in his life, dismantled the same amount, and studied a beyond legendary ship, he was no doubt an expert. Most of that vessel's problems were analyzed by a quick glance already, 55 meters away.

…

15 minutes later:

Completely finishing his inspection, the shipwright returned, staring at the three pirates. "I'm sorry to say this, but your ship is 100% unrepairable. Not only is everything in bad condition, but the spine is shattered. I can't do anything to help you.", he revealed. Though that didn't mean he thought it was a bad ship. Quite the contrary! The blue-haired was impressed a small vessel like that made of average wood and constantly repaired poorly managed to get this far on the Grand Line from one of the Blues.

"But…", the orange-haired weakly let out, her brown eyes wide open at the cyborg. "Couldn't you just replace the spine? I mean, it's not that hard, right?"

Franky shook his head, readying himself for another lecture. "The spine is the backbone of a ship, without it, it's nothing. We could just rebuild one like your ship from scratch, but you, especially you guys wouldn't like that. Why? Because you'd be the first guys to say it isn't the same. No ship is exactly the same."

8 seconds of silence. The two Straw Hats beside Luffy needed this time to let those words sink in. That man in front of them was an expert in that matter, and he knew what he was talking about. They didn't deny he was right.

"So are you saying", the 17-year-old began, breaking the silence, "we should either let you build us a new ship, or sink with our current ship if we sail on it any longer?"

Nodding, the pervert gave his answer. "Correct."

Nami was sad. She was sad that their ship they called home was no longer suited for sailing, and better off wrecked, but sinking and dying was not a better option. Sighing, she came to terms with this. "Alright, so I guess we-"

"Cut the crap!", the marksman suddenly exclaimed at his future nakama, who didn't take it as a hostility. "Stop bullshitting! Merry is a friend! We can't just let her die!"

Unfortunately for the strawhat, his expectation came true. The only thing he could do was to stop a possible escalation. "Usopp, stop!"

"You don't know what adventures we went through with Merry, what Merry went through with us! Merry is a living thing, and I refuse to let her die!", said boy continued, ranting at the shipwright's face. The latter was very surprised he told him that his ship with a sheep's figurehead was actually a living thing.

"I said stop it, Usopp! Right now!". More than he wanted to, the 160 Million Berry pirate raised his voice.

"And you!", Usopp spat, turning towards his same-aged captain, pointing at his captain's chest with his finger. "You saw it with me! Merry has a soul, she's our friend with a soul! If you agree to abandon and ignore her problems like that, I'm done with you!"

"Whoa, hold on! Did you say your ship has a soul? Like, a Klabautermann?", Franky questioned, interested in that story.

"Yes.", the future Pirate King said, nodding. "Usopp and I saw it about a week ago. I even talked to it, and it said it didn't have much time left. Do you know more about this?"

Slowly, the blue-haired's mouth opened by an inch. He quickly scratched his head, then fixed it towards the shorter group of pirates. "Interesting. A Klabautermann is a pirate legend. It says, if you deeply care about your ship, one day its ghost in the shape of a little girl wearing a raincoat will show itself, and help out when the crew is in its greatest need. Though, that also is a sign of the ship getting old and rusty.", the cyborg informed them, already liking this crew of pirates. "If what you say is true, then you must've had a very strong bond with your ship. But even if that bond is extremely strong, it won't hold your ship together. If you want to continue on your journey, getting a new ship is a must. I'm not kidding."

"Good.", the rubber man spoke, no clear expression on his face. "I'll offer you 1 Billion Berry to build us a ship that can sail to the end of the Grand Line. Do we have a deal?"

"Affirmative."

Just then, unexpectedly, the angry long-nosed stepped in front of Luffy, and grabbed him by the collar of his captain's coat. "So that's how you truly are, isn't it?", he snarled, half disgusted. "Uncaring about the weak, easily disposing of those that aren't useful to you anymore, huh? Seems like I've misjudged your character. Calling someone like you one of my closest friends was a mistake."

Hearing such words, the navigator was shocked. She covered her mouth with her right hand, and looked like about to cry. 'Why would he say such things…'

By the looks of it, the pirate captain didn't look happy at all, but stayed calm nevertheless. He did nothing expect removing himself from his sharpshooter's grip. "I will say nothing now. We _will_ talk about this later, though."

Following some more seconds of silence, Franky started talking again. "Any preferences you like, Strawhat Luffy?"

"None really, except a Kairoseki bottom. You're free to build your own dream ship."

Time froze inside Franky's head. 'Did he just say I can build my dream ship? For real? Why… why does this boy want to make me follow my long abandoned dream again? Why? I can't explain it, nor can I explain this boy. He sure is a mystery, and I want to find out more about him.' "Thank you, oh generous man. It may take a week for me… and my boys, but you will not be disappointed."

As they shook hands, smiling at each other and holding their thumbs up like they were long time friends, Usopp was getting sadder and angrier at the same time. Though, against his own expectations, his _captain_ decided to split up for now, leaving with the ginger. Little did he know, the future Pirate King was doing it for his sake…

…

At the same time, in another location, a doctor and an archaeologist were walking down a street. They were both bearing happy looks, and inside the latter's mind, there were nothing but positive thoughts about her nakama.

"Robin.", Chopper spoke up, getting her attention. Despite disrupting her thoughts a little, she wasn't angry or anything. She just couldn't. "I want to go in that shop. Could you wait for me outside, please?"

The blue-eyed Oharan smiled at him, kneeling down a bit. "Fufufu, of course, Doctor-san. Take your time."

Transforming from his natural reindeer form into his human form, the Zoan walked inside the shop. His friend, the wanted 79 Million Berry woman, was still smiling, at least until she noticed a massive masked figure walking near her. That figure was dressed in a white coat with orange square patterns. The mask he wore was rather feminine.

"CP9", the deep, male voice underneath that mask whispered, making Robin's blood freeze.

Different feelings and thoughts mingled with each other inside her brain. 'CP9… It couldn't get worse! Bloodthirsty assassins, on this island! I can't risk my friends fighting with them. Captain-san is an exception, but even if he alone defeated them, the World Government wouldn't be done. No, it would get worse! They'd send an Admiral, two Admirals, three Admirals with a fleet behind them, just because of me. Not even Captain-san can beat three Admirals, let alone the ENTIRE Marine force. My friends don't deserve to have such a dangerous foe behind them, just for the sake of me, who's hated by pretty much the entire world. It would be better if only my life was lost, rather than even risking of lightly hurting them.'

"I'll go with you.", the raven-haired whispered with an even quieter voice, hate-filled. "On one condition: The Straw Hat Pirates are not to be harmed at any cost."

The large man blinked once. "We'll talk about this later with the boss. Come with me now."

Without any emotion, the man took her along the corner, into a secluded end of a road, where no one saw the two of them. Silently, he opened up a round door in the air with his Devil Fruit, and they stepped through it. After that door was closed, no trace of them could be found.

Two minutes later, Chopper returned from the shop. To his surprise, Robin was no longer there. "Robin?", the Zoan user asked, checking around the closer area. Nowhere, nowhere was that woman to be found.

"I should go back to the Merry and tell everyone immediately!", the blue-nosed told himself, running as fast as he could as a reindeer. "This is an emergency!"

…

6 hours later:

Everyone except the abducted Robin was waiting inside Merry for Usopp to show up. In the past hours, the news that their most recent nakama was gone already hit the guts. That clearly wasn't a good sign, but now that the furious long-nosed would appear just to have an argument with the captain, things might get uglier. Just then, the long-awaited person stepped through the door.

For 10 seconds, both 17-year olds just stared at each other, one with a fiery glare, the other with a composed look. The onlookers hoped for the best, but didn't risk not to expect the worst. "What're you looking at?!", the sniper finally barked. "Don't you want to explain yourself?!"

Luffy raised his left brow and shrugged. "Why do I even have to explain myself? I'm doing it for the best of us. I'd rather abandon Merry here, than sink to the bottom of the Grand Line with you all. As a captain, I have to be responsible for your lives. I can't throw them away for some selfish emotions like you. If I did, none of us would achieve our dreams, and everything would be all for naught."

Refusing to accept this answer, despite the good points made, the sharpshooter sped forward again, and grabbed the strawhat by his collar again. "That doesn't explain it!", he almost screamed, not realizing he was greatly upsetting his nakama, who didn't want to see an argument between friends like that. "Why did you ditch Merry, answer me! Is it because you think you're too powerful and good to sail on a small ship like that? Do you want a fancy, big battleship that would make you Pirate King if only looks and size mattered? Or is it because you've grown so strong, your ego has grown to the size of those bastards you've defeated, and now you're a prick who's disgusted by the weak and injured, like the ship you're standing on right now?"

Those words were more severe than they sounded. Every straw hat beside the two were utterly astonished, and not in a good way. The marksman himself realized he went one step too far. Flinching, he innerly begged Luffy would only throw him out, and not demolish him.

After a brief silence, the 160 Million Berry man cracked his knuckles, then slamming the long-nosed onto the ground. His crewmembers were deciding to step in.

"So this is why you're throwing this tantrum, eh?", the rubber man ranted, gazing at Usopp, who winced in pain. "It's not really about Merry, but yourself, huh? It's because you think you're too weak, and won't be needed by us anymore, _AM I RIGHT_?!"

Sanji, Chopper, Zoro and Nami were all staring at their rather cowardly nakama, mouths open and in disbelief. 'Just to think something like this…'

"I don't care about what you want to say right now,", the future Pirate King continued, his eyes still looking enraged, ", but continue like this, and you'll never be the brave warrior you desire to be! Look, if you truly think you're weak, train and become stronger. However,", that part was very strongly stressed, "let's keep one thing clear: I WON'T LET MY NAKAMA GO FOR A STUPID REASON LIKE THAT!"

While Luffy didn't release a wave of King's haki, it certainly felt like it. That shout. That shout reminded the bystanding pirates of the Straw Hat crew one of the three reasons they followed him, other than being friends and him helping them fulfill their dreams and vice-versa. They also followed him because of his strong spirit.

Meanwhile, Usopp was sobbing. He didn't expect the black-haired to think so highly of him. He just assumed he triggered his friend, and the latter would beat him to a pulp then throw him out for good. He was wrong, and he wanted to make up for it. "L-l-l-luffy!... I… I'm s-sorry!... Is there… any chance you'll-"

His sentence was cut off by a hand reaching to him, coming from a young man with a kind, smiling face. "Get up, would ya? I don't want you to catch a cold."

Suddenly, a certain blond sneezed. He'd heard something similar before.

The sniper gripped the hand, and let himself be pulled up again. His captain, the boy he looked up to for becoming someone brave, was right. That was a stupid reason indeed.

Comparably unexpected as the sneeze, Nami decided to speak up when the crew just watched a storm end. "Really, that's just beautiful, and I'm glad you sorted out your problems, but that won't bring back Robin. We have to search for her now!"

Judging by his face, the sharpshooter was confused. He didn't expect the archaeologist to be lost.

'Ohh, right. Robin's gone to sacrifice herself for us. I have to get her back!', the strawhat thought, moving towards the door.

"Guys, you don't need to stress yourselves again. I'll just go find her real quick! Don't worry!", he reassured his friends. This time, it was not selfishness. It was to prevent drawing CP9's attention.

As usual, they accepted without a second thought.

Outside, it was cold and dark. Winds were blazing at the future Pirate King's captain's coat, and his hair. He thought it was better inside, but the 160 Million Berry man had more important things to do outside, lives were at stake. Thus, he Geppo'd in the air, and ran to save Nico Robin, the woman hated by the world, without looking back.

'Wait for me, you stupid CP9 bastards, I'll show you what pain means!'

* * *

 **Whew! Soooo, there's it, Chapter 23! It took me long enough to finish, but I had to study while writing, so unfortunately, I needed 20 days to finish this. Spoiler: Next chapter's going to be hype! Also, I will never abandon this story, don't worry about it, despite how long it might take. At the very least I want to reach Whole Cake Island, where we are in canon. Peace out for now, see you guys next time!**


	24. C24: Confrontation at Iceburg's - twice

**Never again!**

 **Wow, I didn't expect that! The amount of reviews for chapter 23 is probably the biggest for a chapter I've received for this story. Did you really like it that much? That means very much to me, thank you all guys.**

 **Answer to Arthur Moon:** **You're welcome**

 **Answer to Stolyint:** **Thanks, and there are a lot of other changes.**

 **Answer to Negima Uzumaki:** **You will see.**

 **Answer to shinjojin:** **Yes, there'll be plenty of Rokushiki**

 **Answer to doubledamn:** **You can bet on it!**

 **Answer to everyone who wants CP9's asses kicked: Ooh, they're gonna get their asses so kicked! There'll even be death, but not in this chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**

* * *

 **Chapter 24: Confrontation at Iceburg's – twice**

"Do it.", Blueno calmly ordered from behind his mask. The large, muscular man with hair shaped like bull horns was standing inside Mayor Iceburg's bedroom. So was Nico Robin, in her hand a silver-wooden flintlock, pointed at the boss of Galley-La Company. The Straw Hat Pirates, her friends she had unfortunately turn herself away from would be blamed for this.

Blueno wasn't a dumb man, like his colleagues and the people of Water 7 believed. Noticing the hesitation, he pushed for it again. "What're you waiting for? Do I have to repeat myself?"

Suddenly, a cold gust of wind blew through the fancy room of the mansion. Why? An open window, opened by no other than the 160 Million Berry pirate with quite a reputation, Monkey D. Luffy. "I came to get you back, Robin."

The Oharan's eyes widened. She expected of him to figure out why she hadn't returned. She also expected him to actually come, but she didn't want to have that be true. The raven-haired woman couldn't let a single sound slip out of her lips.

Quickly realizing he was a threat, a major one at that, the bulky CP9 assassin spoke up for his unit's prisoner. "Foolish boy, you will not get to retrieve this woman. Leave now, or you'll neighter see her, nor the light of the day again.", he spoke, unsuccessfully trying to threaten the pirate, who merely scoffed.

"I couldn't care less about you, you twat!", the strawhat stated, sticking to his one single goal. "If you lowly traitors and assassins won't leave her, Ice-san and the city alone, I'll crush all of your bones. Try your Tekkai all you want, it won't stop me."

Obviously feeling insulted, Blueno's blood temperature rose. Nevertheless, he was the most composed assassin of the entire CP9 unit, and he wasn't just going to let the feelings take him over. "My warning has been spoken and ignored. I do not feel any obligation not to take you out. Shigan!"

Luffy saw Blueno running towards him, albeit as slow as a turtle. "I'll stick that finger of yours up to where the sun doesn't shine!", the rubber man sneered, grinning widely, and pretty evil for someone like him. Less than a second later, Blueno felt immense pain coming from his finger. The brat, as he thought of him, had turned his index finger around, causing a disturbing crack sound fill the room. The man wanted to scream out in pain and roll on the floor. Knowing that would alert everyone remotely close to Iceburg's bedroom, he tried to ease the pain, by breathing in and out hard, and cursing future Pirate King in his head.

Meanwhile, Iceburg was watching the entire scene wide-eyed, sweating in confusion. Nico Robin, the Devil's Child was here for god's sake! Previously, he'd wondered whether the masked man was also a Straw Hat, but now something like that seemed evidently impossible. 'Traitors, assassins? They're after the blueprints, aren't they?!', the expert shipwright thought in shock. 'So the time has come… I need to be more cautious from now on!'

Ignoring Blueno, Luffy stepped forward to his nakama again. He sensed she was both happy and unhappy about his arrival, the reasons why obvious. "You don't have to do this, Robin. I'll help you out.", the black-haired offered.

The archaeologist was close to tears. "You don't understand…", the 79 Million Berry woman whispered in a sad tone. "They're threatening a Buster Call, on this island! It's not me who needs to be saved, it's you, all of you."

Shaking his head, the 17-year-old showed his disagreement. "I don't accept this. As long as my friends are being used for something they don't want to, I won't accept any of this!", the strawhat announced, raising his furious voice a little. "We seven, we fight together! We don't need your protection by staging a betrayal. Say the word, and CP9 is done for! What about your dream, the Rio Poneglyph or something?!"

Something inside Iceburg's brain clicked. 'Cipher Pol again?! Not just any dicks from the World Government, but those bastards again, those guys who killed Tom?! And to get things worse, a woman able to read _Poneglyphs_?! The things that can reawaken Pluton?!'

"Excuse me!", a male voice slightly bellowed from behind the two pirates. "May I have a word in This? First of all, who are you guys, and whose side are you fucking on, all of you?! Second, what the damn is a Buster Call? And third, do you realize you can lead to the end of the world by being able to read those Poneglyphs?!"

All three, Luffy, Robin and Blueno reacted silently at the middle-aged mayor's unexpected outburst. They were surprised, and didn't know what to say or do. After about 9 seconds, Robin spoke up, her blue eyes distraught, but firm. "I cannot answer you the first question, but I can answer you the other two. A Buster Call is an absolute nightmare.". She started shaking. "5 Vice Admirals, and 10 warships are ordered to destroy an island until there's nothing left. It's the highest and most dangerous practice of absolute justice. And I am not planning on destroying the world, just because I can read them. I just want to know the true history."

Iceburg didn't want to hear that last part, as he started shouting. "A weapon that can hurt people might not have evil intension, yet the must not be created or brought back again! You can't just say you want to read history, WHEN IT'LL COME TO THE UNEVITABLE!"

Apparently, the mayor noticed he'd become a little too loud after focusing on himself a little. He'd not been under such stress for a long time. Consequently, he lowered his voice again. "You have associated yourself with CP9, who wish to obtain the Pluton blueprints, and better yet, bring back that monstrosity itself. And this boy right there claims you're part of his crew, and CP9 are your enemies. I don't know about the whole story, but everything's so confusing. Give me answers, before I call security!"

'What should I say now? I don't want anything to come to my friends, yet I must obey _them._ On a second thought… they wouldn't kill me, and neither would they kill them, at least not right now or tomorrow.', Robin thought, despite hesitation at first.

"Oh, you want answers? You can have them.", the Oharan said with a voice that slightly shocked her captain and nakama. Blueno didn't even care anymore. That part of his mission was failed, and there was nothing he could do to reset that. "In truth, I am only here because CP9 threatened me. They threatened the lives of the people that I treasure, the people who saved my life when I didn't want it anymore, the very people who believed in my dream that was cursed by everyone before, the people who treated me like family while the whole world still hates me. Oh, they also forced two vital conditions on me, one being your assassination blamed on them."

To say Iceburg was baffled was an understatement. He started to regret working with the World Government. Actually, the first thing after sorting out that Cipher Pol problem he was going to do, was making his city leave the World Government as mayor. The bull-like man sitting on the floor cursed inwardly, furious the one he was supposed to boss around spilled their secrets. Nonetheless, he knew there was nothing he could do, because if he did, the 160 Million Berry man would fulfill his promise from earlier, and the result would be death. **[If you don't understand this, look up SBS Volume 39. If you get poked in the butt with a Shigan, you die.]**

"Also,", the female archaeologist continued, "I am very well aware of the fact that my knowledge may result in the reawakening of Pluton. I for one want this to avoid this as much as possible. However, I wouldn't care about that if my friends were allowed to continue living. In truth, my nakama are more important to me than everyone else in the world."

Originally, the black-haired had heard this from Nami when she told him about Robin's reason to leave them. But hearing it in person, with such certainty, warmed up his heart even more. The shipwright boss also had the feeling this was a heartwarming friendship bond, despite the other half being fairly dark. "You don't know what you're talking about…", the middle-aged man mumbled under his breath.

"So, Robin.", the rubber man started again, his eyes shining with hope. "Now that you've confessed your feelings about us, will you come back again?"

She looked at him with a sorry face. If emotions in the air could knock other people out, the whole town would be asleep. "I really am sorry, Captain-san, I wish I didn't have to do this, but you can't take on the entire force of the World Government. Also, I have to prevent a Buster Call by any means possible, I can't bring myself to let such inhumanity happen again. Believe me, I'm doing it for the greater good of you."

Lone tears rolled from each of her eyes. The future Pirate King, much to his dismay, realized where this was going. "A captain wouldn't want to see his nakama cry, would he?", the 79 Million Berry woman whispered again. "Please, go. All I want is a good life for you and your remaining nakama, Pirate King."

Enraged, the strawhat clenched his fists. He was burning out of anger. This once, just for her, he'd let the guilty ones get away with it, just this once. They made his nakama cry, it was worse than Arlong for him. Tomorrow, or any day after, he would _wreck, obliterate_ them.

"Very well.", he let out in a serious tone, turning to Iceburg. "Ice-san, I have one single request, could you make that happen?"

"Go ahead.", the older one spoke, frowning.

"Can you keep what happened this night a secret. I don't want a single word leaving this room.", Luffy demanded, before taking his leave.

Iceburg nodded. For him, it was better that way anyway, considering how turbulent and confusing ALL of it was.

Blueno was also preparing his departure. "Come with me, Nico Robin. There won't be any assassination anymore, thanks to that brat.", the CP9 member spat, irritated. The raven-haired felt slight fury at how the bull-like man called her captain. "Our boss is going to be pissed, and I guess there will be consequences. Come now, before things get worse thanks to you."

Without a choice, she obeyed as he opened an invisible door in the air. 5 seconds later, they both stepped through.

Galley-La's owner didn't close an eye after this unforgettable incident.

…

12 minutes later:

"Have you seen Robin, Luffy?", Nami greeted him from the Merry. This wasn't a real greet, she knew that, but rightfully, the navigator was more concerned about her absent nakama.

As he landed on the deck, he went straight for the stairs, not looking the ginger in the eyes. "Yeah, I did. There are some bad people behinds this, but Robin'll return tomorrow, I'll guarantee that!"

"Whoa, whoa! Slow down! Tell us more!", Sanji urged as his captain seemed unwilling to talk. He was rushing things, and the chef didn't like it, neither did the rest.

"Please, tomorrow.", the 160 Million Berry man said. "I need to think right now. Tomorrow night, you'll learn everything."

With that, the 17-year-old disappeared downstairs, leaving his crew puzzled. For one of them, the one who'd noticed strange things earlier, it was enough. 'Tomorrow evening, huh? I won't let you continue like this, tomorrow is answering time!'

Despite everything, the crew let that one slip through again, feeling like they couldn't do anything against it anyway. It wasn't a mystery anymore, it turned into something common.

The Haki users and Nami finally fully felt it, the feeling the day after was going to get even more turbulent.

…

In the morning next day, most things were pretty chill for the Straw Hats. Everyone, literally everyone in the city was friendly to them, and treated them like gods. Luffy knew the reason of this treatment was not due to their money, or due to their status as dangerous criminals. "Oi, Ossan. Would you kindly tell me why everyone's so nice to us?", he questioned an old man sweeping the front of his restaurant.

"Huff.", the man let out. "Hasn't anyone told you guys yet? It's because of the mayor. A few hours ago he told everyone you saved his life by thwarting an assassination attempt. I'm grateful for that myself."

Luffy's crew was taken aback by that. "You stopped an assassination, and haven't told us anything?!", they simultaneously yelled out.

Feeling ashamed of not informing his nakama of such major happenings, and thereby leaving them in the dark, the black-haired clutched his head and looked at another direction. "I… I'll tell you when everything's over. Right now I'm just in a difficult situation."

Nami and everyone else looked genuinely concerned. "If you are in trouble or something, we'll help you out. Just stop hiding things!"

Clutching his head tighter, his face turned red. "Soon, just soon. Please don't stress me out any further, I'm conflicted."

After some more seconds, the five on the 17-year-old's side finally gave in, not asking any further. To them it seemed like their captain was having emotional trouble. "Fine.", Sanji spoke calmly. "If that's how you feel, then better rest. We can do whatever you wanted to do in your place."

"No.", the strawhat calmly, yet firmly disagreed, looking down on the floor. "I have to do that one myself, no matter what."

Zoro and the others were wondering what he was talking about.

"Let's visit Ice-san, this time together. There's something I wish to speak about with him."

…

One hour later:

That day it was Paulie's duty to welcome high-profile guests through the main gate of Galley-La Company. Puffing out a little smoke from his cigar, the shipwright with rope powers walked over to the group of pirates. "Hi there.", he greeted coolly. "Feel like home at Galley-La, saviours of Iceburg-san. I'm Paulie and and I'm here to greet you. Guess you came here to talk, right?"

"Right.", the 160 Million Berry man confirmed, nodding. He knew he had many things to do, so he wanted to get it over with as fast as possible. "Can you take us to Ice-san?"

"Sure thing.", Paulie said, turning around towards the mansion's entrance. The Straw Hat Pirates followed him, eager to meet the mayor.

3 minutes later, on the stairs to the third floor, the group encountered Iceburg's secretary, Kalifa. When she and the future Pirate King made eye contact, there was a dangerous flash, not seen by anyone else. "I take you're the Straw Hats, right?", the CP9 agent asked, faking a professional demeanor. Beneath her masquerade, she bore the ill will to stab them all at the spot with at least one Shigan per body. "Iceburg-san thinks very highly of you. Have a nice day."

The blonde woman continued on her way down, possibly to alarm her unit's acting leader, just like the Straw Hats continued on their own way. And when they opened the door of Iceburg's bedroom, the first thing they saw was a smiling blue-haired mayor sitting on his large bed.

"Finally!", the expert shipwright almost exclaimed, relieved. "I thought you'd never come!"

Paulie was aware of the fact that his boss was pretty excentric, lazy, and a better shipwright than mayor. The blond cigar smoker also knew about his antics. But never before had the man seen his boss in such a welcoming manner. "I'll leave, Iceburg-san.", he simply announced, preparing to leave. "It's your meeting anyway. Who am I to listen to your private conversation anyway."

"Go ahead.", Iceburg spoke, changing his tone into a rather normal one, then focussing on his guests again. "Straw Hat Pirates, I am eternally grateful to you thanks to your Captain saving my life when assassins tried to claim it."

An assassination was a terrible thing. The first four things that would come to most people's minds when that word is brought up, are who the assassin was, who the assassinated was, when the assassination happened, and why it happened in the first place. Each nakama was curious, and Nami was the one who asked questions. "Iceburg-san,", she began with a curious voice, "do you know who tried to assassinate you, and why? You seem like a nice person to me."

"Ah, you really think that?", the mayor asked, rubbing his blushing cheeks while smiling, before turning serious again. "Anyway. The group trying to assassinate me is Cipher Pol 9, a unit of the World Government. They're after the Pluton blueprints."

"Pluton?", Zoro repeated, confused. "Never heard of it."

"It doesn't matter to you guys anyway.", the middle-aged man changed the topic. "I don't know how long you're going to stay on this island, but if you aren't leaving now, could you do me a favor please?", he requested, the pirates interested in that request.

"What kind of favor?", Sanji inquired, tapping a rythm on the floor with his left foot.

"This may sound a little off coming from me, but could you… kindly kick CP9's asses?". His facial expression in the end was a sheepish grin.

At first, the crew was baffled, gaping at him, with the only exceptions being the strongest two. A little later, however, they all agreed. A nice battle was good for them and their teamwork, and it came to their minds that there was a possibility CP9 was behind Robin's he

Iceburg seemed content. "Great.", he said before changing his expression again. "Now there are things I want to discuss with Strawhat Luffy personally."

The nakama of Luffy nodded, getting out. Like Paulie said earlier, it wasn't their place to hear out private conversations of their leader. Once it was only the two of them, the expert shipwright's grin disappeared. "Okay, yesterday you asked me to keep it all a secret, but-"

"Do you know what you did?!", the rubber man interrupted him, slightly furious. "It may have been of good intent, but you made things a lot worse!". Now the boy was ranting. "Do you think CP9 hasn't heard of this yet?! Getting Robin back is gonna be harder now, dammit!"

Frowning, the mayor tried to speak up again. "Well, excuse me, but-"

Luffy interrupted the man again, this time less angry. "We'll still kick their asses though, our deal isn't nullified."

Hearing that, relief and gratitude formed inside Iceburg. "You're a fine-spirited young man. Although you're quite disrespectful for interrupting me this often, you have good beliefs and decent values. I can do a lot for you, which we can talk about later.", he said honestly, believing in Luffy. "What are you going to do next?"

"Setting up a plan to kick CP9's asses and bring Robin back.", the black-haired answered, smiling. "I'm leaving now, but we'll see ourselves again. Stay fine, Ossan."

Just as the 17-year-old opened the door out, Iceburg complained about him one more time. "I'm not even that old!". He did complain, but it wasn't to be mean or anything. "Kids these days…"

"Shishishi! Bye!"

…

Much later, at 9:30pm, where it had already become dark, the Straw Hat Pirates met up again at a spot. Previously, they had split up into three teams. The third team, Sanji and Usopp, sheltered all their belongings somewhere up in the higher part of Water 7, and told the Franky Family to stabilize, not fix, just stabilize Going Merry, ordered by their captain.

"Nice job guys!", the strawhat praised them both, far too friendly and excited for the situation they were in, though just for a short town. "Now, listen up! I'm assigning you with a secret mission!"

'Secret mission?', the long-nosed thought. For him it either was something really cool, or something that could potentially kill him.

"Infiltrate the Sea Train to Enies Lobby. Do you have your Den Den Mushies with you?"

"Yeah, we have.", the blond answered, about to light up a cigarette in order to make some light for everyone. "I checked around the area, Usopp and I have to go to Blue Station."

"Good.", the future Pirate King spoke again, looking at his remaining nakama. "We'll be going back to Ice-san's place. Don't get caught!"

With that, they started walking into opposite directions, prepared to use violence if needed.

…

"Uaaagh!"

For Blueno, it was a piece of cake, dealing with mere shipwrights despite one of his hands not working as wished. He brought the hostage, Nico Robin with him, into Iceburg's mansion again. Blood sticked onto his shoes, Galley-La shipwright blood.

Mayor Iceburg was deep in shock once more. By the looks of it, the large man with a bear mask murdered two of his strongest subordinates, Kaku and Lucci, and now made his move to kill the boss himself. 'Where are you, Strawhat?', he wondered, not wanting to be shot dead.

As if he was the devil himself, said boy and his right hand man appeared out of literally nowhere, squatting on the window sill. "Here I am, Ice-san. You called me?"

"YOU CAN READ THOUGHTS?!", the expert shipwright exclaimed in disbelief, eyes bulging out. 'Truly a miracle, that kid. So miraculous, it's creeping the heck outta me!'

"Shishishi! Yes, I can …"

The brat muttered and muttered and muttered, Blueno had a hard time keeping himself composed, his veins almost popping. He couldn't believe how this pirate was this much stronger than him, that pirate wasn't even a Shichibukai, let alone a Yonko.

Suddenly, the bedroom door flew open, three masked individuals stepping inside. Two of them were males, one a woman. The males were wearing a bull and a skeleton mask, with the skeleton one having a fez on top of it. The woman was wearing a muskedeer mask. Zoro almost fell asleep, until those three entered. Maybe the night would turn out to be interesting for him after all…

"What's going on here?!", one of those that were supposedly 'killed', demanded in a commanding manner. His cold eyes wandered over to his large comerade, the Doa Doa user, who was twitching. Lucci mistook it for twitching out of fear. "Blueno you fool, you're seriously scared of that unimportant pirate Strawhat Luffy, and won't do your job? Clearly, you have grown weak over those five years in your bar. Name me one reason I shouldn't kill you."

No words escaped Blueno's throat, instead he gulped. Lucci was known as CP9's strongest, a bloodthirsty murderer who hated the weak. Truly, the large man couldn't do anything against him.

"Because I hate people who kill their own nakama.", Luffy declared, defending Blueno. Sure, the guy was a jerk who killed others just because of orders, but nakama-killers like his worst enemy Teach were far worse.

Rob Lucci ignored him, rolling his eyes. "We came here for you, Iceburg.", the assassin stated. "These blueprints were fake, and you know that very well! Tell us where the real ones are!"

"I'd rather die than tell you!", Iceburg angrily bellowed.

"Oh?", Lucci asked in a mocking tone, raising his now visible left brow after taking his mask off – just like the other CP9 members. The mayor's face was widened in shock. 'Lucci, Kaku, Kalifa, Blueno… impossible!' "That's no problem, _Iceburg-san_. That can easily be arranged."

…

Like Iceburg's eyes, so were Paulie's eyes widened, just like his mouth was wide open. Traitors in Galley-La Company, something so terrible never crossed his mind. Inside, the blond wanted to cry for thinking those assassins were his friends.

"5 years. That was the time we spent undercover as part of CP9 to get the blueprints for the World Government. Shocking, huh?", the Leopard man spoke, enraging both Paulie and Iceburg further. "Too bad, we have no more use for you. And we also now in whose hands the real blueprints are. Cutty Flam, right?"

Given name made the middle-aged man forget all his anger and got his blood cold. "C-cutty… F-fram?! H-how… "

"See?", Lucci interrupted his former boss again. "It's so easy to tell, we don't even have to torture it out of you… too bad. Anyways, we have a mission to finish. Enjoy your last night, in your weakened state you can't do anything to us."

The arrogant dark-haired man turned around, preparing to get out of the building before the inferno starts. CP9's strongest thought he was all done there, in truth he wasn't.

"Oi, pigeon jerk!", the 160 Million Berry man yelled, prompting Lucci to turn around. "I'm going to make you guys pay for taking Robin away from us!"

"Tch!", he sneered, an arrogant grin on his face. "I'd like to see you try, lowly pirate! We're the elite, CP9! A special forbidden unit allowed to hunt down and kill anyone not agreeing with the Government! With our superhuman martial arts style, we're near invincible!". Lucci was really boasting now, letting some of his attention slip.

"Gomu Gomu no…"

"Tekkai! This should teach you how w- UAGH!"

"…Pistol!"

With his rubbery fist, the rubber man broke Rob Lucci's nose, despite it being strengthened like iron. The latter was in disbelief, the same expression shared by his companions.

Kaku tried to rush at Lucci's side to help him, but the green-haired swordsman effortlessly cut through his hardened skin. "Agh! Tekkai is as hard as iron, how?!", the square-nosed demanded, angrier than ever. That was a feat, considering his usual calmness.

"I can cut through steel, which is harder than iron. My next goal is diamond, so don't think your lame technique is gonna be holding me back!", the 60 Million Berry man loudly told, totally unimpressed.

Parts of Lucci's suit were covered in blood. That alone made him utterly enraged. Still, it wasn't _the_ time for him to go feral, so he just ordered his group back. "Leave it, everyone. We can't waste time here, we've got a ride to catch."

A flash of disdain formed between the meeting glares of Luffy and Lucci, foreshadowing their great fight. Each of them were yelling inside. 'I'll get you back for this, fucker! You're dead meat!'

…

The incredibly noisy hammer and saw sounds finally stopped. They were coming out of Franky's own shipyard. For the past two days, the cyborg spent most of his time working on the keel for his dream ship, the Thousand Sunny. The result looked great, it was a massive brown keel made out of really expensive Adam wood.

"So,", he sighed, looking at it with awe, wiping sweat off his face, "the first step is finally done. Time for some cola…"

Suddenly, one member of his family after another started to scream out of pain, collapsing on the floor. In the distance, the blue-haired saw four people dressed in black, who strongly appeared to be the attackers.

Franky's veins started to bulge out. Wanting revenge, he pulled out his arm gun. "Who are you bastards?!", the shipwright roared. "And what did you do to my family?"

As the four walked up closer, Franky was able to identify them, much to his surprise. He never liked Galley-La's men and Kalifa anyway, but her and Lucci always seemed suspicious to him, especially the latter with his graveness. Kaku and Blueno were a shock, though. "You're some of Galley-La… and Blueno!"

"Oh, so you know us?", Lucci calmly remarked. The cyborg could sense that guy was a huge dick. "We also know all about you, Cutty Flam, one of the two disciples of Tom, who supposedly died 8 years ago. Don't play dumb."

Cutty Flam couldn't believe his ears. His expression changed into a very shocked one, snot coming out of his metal nose. The cyborg recalled Iceburg's words about how he'd be hunted down once _that_ time came.

"I believe you have questions, we'll answer them briefly.", CP9's strongest continued. "We four infiltrated Water 7 on the orders of the World Government to get our hands on the blueprints. Iceburg tried to cheat us with a fake one, how foolish! But you, you definitely have the real blueprints of the Ancient Weapon Pluton, am I right?"

Those blueprints, blueprints for some stupid Ancient Weapon were the reason his mentor died. The blue-haired shipwright knew it was his job to guard the blueprints, but secretly, he cursed them. "I ain't giving you nothing!", he shouted, attempting to crush the man's ribs. "Strong Right!"

Lucci effortlessly dodged, and striked back, sending Franky flying. "Hmph!", he muttered, dissatisfied by his opponent's power. "This is superhuman martial arts, the same way we disposed of your useless men. Don't think you have got a chance against us!"

Despite his fury, the cyborg knew they were more powerful than him. Not only that, the spiked metal whip of Kalifa restraining him hurt like hell. All in all, it sucked he had to watch CP9 making a mess out of his storage room full of memories, the storage room of his teacher Tom.

However, Franky kind of liked the frustration seen on their faces when they didn't find the blueprint, even though his mouth was far from a smile.

"Whatever!", the Leopard Zoan cursed. "We'll still take you to Enies Lobby nonetheless, as a criminal. There we can torture the location out of you."

Just the tone of them Government bastards speaking so highly made the shipwright's blood boil. They wouldn't get it. "I'VE ALREADY TOLD YOU I'M TELLING YOU JACK!"

Kaku then moved over to him, and struck him with a punch. "Will you ever shut up, Cutty Flam?". Strangely enough, he was still sounding polite.

With that, the assassins left Franky's shipyard, the owner dithering on Blueno's shoulder, trying to bite him. Blueno was too patient for his own good, and considered quitting his job should he ever meet a weirdo like that again.

…

Countless shipwrights were having their injuries treated by Chopper, listening to Mayor Iceburg's speech about the Straw Hats and the World Government. Even those hating pirates grew utmost respect for the crew. 10 minutes ago, the explosives laid by CP9 should've unleashed an inferno on Galley-La Headquarters. However, much to the shiprights' luck, Nami the hero found them, and rendered them useless by pouring lots of water on them. Earlier, Rob Lucci made sure not to mention it, so that it would lead to Strawhat's death without him even knowing. He, the strawhat, guessed Lucci was utterly furious by the time he found out.

"This is outrageous!", one of the shipwrights yelled out. "Lucci and the others were spies all along?!"

The shock of their sudden betrayal still hit some really hard. "What's gonna happen to Galley-La now?!", another shipwright called out in a depressed way.

Paulie was the leading foreman of Galley-La. To him, it was clear Galley-La needed to be reshaped and rebuilt again, but not right at the spot where more important matters were at hand. "Calm down everyone.", he spoke up, making gestures with his hands. "After the thing with the Straw Hats is resolved, we have all time of the world to rebuild Galley-La back to its greatness. Now we must support the Straw Hats to get revenge on the Government assassins. Is that clear?"

"Crystal!", was the reply from everyone after few seconds of waiting.

Meanwhile, the reindeer approached his nakama standing on the side after having finished wrapping up shipwrights. "Luffy,", he began, looking up into his face with curious eyes, ", why did those bad people take Robin?"

Luffy felt it was the right time to tell the truth. "They're taking Robin, cause they want to use her for something and then kill her for existing. She agreed to leave with them, only for us to be safe from the assassins."

Nami put her hand on her mouth, her eyes widened. "Killing her for existing? That's terrible!". The small Zoan user agreed 100% with her, so did Zoro.

"Yeah, it is.", the black-haired continued. "Robin sacrificed herself for us cause she loves us. And we love her, don't we?". Nods of agreeing. "That's why we will go to Enies Lobby and get her back. I want to make an example out of those who take away my loved ones!"

Last part of his captain's statement was very firm, and he liked it, but it also sounded somewhat unusual. The 17-year-old was someone kind, and not the one to make examples right away. Monsters could be made out of even the kindest people, and all in all, it honestly sounded like he went through this more than once.

"Luffy?", Chopper asked again, this time a little too direct. "Why do you sometimes sound like stuff already happened to you, and you know about things we haven't even seen or heard of?"

The strawhat felt his heart pump harder as he heard it. One day or another, he expected a question like that to come. That, however, was one of the worst possible times to ask. His smile faded away. "Uhhh, you see, there is some truth behind it, but I'll tell you on another day, I promise."

That answer didn't satisfy the doctor at all. "Why not now? We're in a crisis, right? A nakama is getting abducted! Isn't this the time to work together and NOT hold secrets from one another?", he pressed, demanding answers immediately.

Chopper was right, there was no way Luffy could deny that. They _were_ in a dire situation, and by stalling he was wasting time, but for a VERY long time, the future Pirate King had already planned telling about it after Thriller Bark. "Everyone, I'm sorry I'm holding big secrets, I'll tell eventually, but now's just not the right time! We need to get a Sea Train to fol-"

"Did someone say Sea Train?"

It came from Granny Kokoro, who approached the Straw Hats alongside Chimney and Gonbe. She smelled like cheap wine, which probably was one of the only things the old mermaid was drinking.

"Hello Pirate-nii-chan!", Chimney chimed in, always seen with her everlasting smile.

"Nya Nya!", Gonbe added. Many pets somewhat resembled their owner, this cat-like rabbit was taking the cake however.

Granny Kokoro, the oldest, and therefore most responsible one, became serious again, aand talked like an adult. "If I heard everything right, the Sea Train with your friend is going to Enies Lobby. You can't go there with a ship thanks to Aqua Laguna.", the alcoholic informed, half-emptying her bottle. "There is only one way to get there, that is the Sea-tracks. You may think there's only one Sea Train, but that ain't true, am I right, Iceburg?"

Iceburg, who had just finished his speech, looked at Tom's former secretary seriously. "You're talking about the Rocket Man, aren't you? The prototype that couldn't be stopped."

"Nagagagaga!", she laughed out again. "You remember, right? I wouldn't expect any less from you."

The blue-haired mayor stared at her nostalgically, remembering almost a decade of constructing the Sea Train. "How could I ever forget?", he almost exclaimed in a heavy yet not rude tone.

Paulie and the other shipwrights were kind-of confused. They never knew of Tom's Workers' greatness.

"Nagagagagaga! I suppose you know what you're gonna do, eh, Iceburg?"

"Yeah.", he firmly said, bearing a determined expression. "Let's get the Rocket Man fired up!"

…

Circa 20 minutes later, Iceburg and Galley-La finished repairing and upgrading Rocket Man, a gray Sea Train with a shark nose. While they were doing that, Franky Family under Zambai rushed into the hidden warehouse, some heavily injured. Zambai proposed an alliance with the other two groups to get Franky back. Of course, due to their not-so-pleasant history with each other, Galley-La Company was against it initially, but then they remembered help was always good.

"Iceburg-san, are you sure you don't want to come with us?", Paulie asked his boss, who decided to stay home.

"Nah, I'll pass.", the expert shipwright declined. "I'm not a fighter, and don't want to become a criminal. Water 7 needs change, and I can't change things as a criminal mayor. Still, good luck to everyone, stay fine."

Paulie accepted immediately, realizing he was right. Iceburg could be arrested, and if someone loyal to the World Government took over, Water 7's justice would come to a sad end. "It's fine, boss."

In the following minute, the Rocket Man's engines started running. It kinda was symblolic that the Rocket man looked like a torpedo. Because even if it wasn't a missile itself, it carried something inside able to destroy Enies Lobby to the core.

* * *

 **Finally, folks, here you have it, a long chapter with loads of content that split Water 7 in two. It took me almost 20 days to finish. There were many exams I had to learn for, and still have, that still doesn't excuse your long wait. I'm sorry everyone! The next chapters will come faster, I promise. Constructive criticism allowed. Rate and Review if you like.**


	25. C25: Weight Reduction

**Never again!**

 **Hello again, guys! I have two important announcements for you. First things first, I plan on speeding the next two chapters up in order to deliver you fast plot progress. Do you like that? Second, this is regarding the first point. You see, if you're a famous youtuber with many views and subs, no matter what, you're gonna get dislikes. Some guys in the review section said my story was bad because I rush things too much and do some things fast without many details. Fast pacing and slow pacing are things that are preferred by either one or another side. Personally, I'm a big fan of fast-pacing, and therefore adjust my story to my preferences. The author still has the final say, but I want to hear your opinions. Are you a fan of slow-pacing or fast-pacing? Now to the reviews!**

 **Answer to Lightningblade49: Thank you for your opinion!**

 **Answer to raynisia: Thank you a lot, yeah, that part will be so much fun to write.**

 **Answer to Meazm: Not just Luffy, the entire crew will :)**

 **Answer to Bloody Rogue dragon deity king and Rogue Deity Master: Just to let you know, I won't kill off ALL of CP9, just some. Guess who'll be my main target.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**

* * *

 **Chapter 25: Weight Reduction**

*Splash!* *Sploosh!*

The rain raining down on Sanji and Usopp was cold, and partially salty. Those two'd never been sick, but if it continued like that for a long time, they'd both get sick for the first time. And it wasn't just the rain. The wild sea during the Aqua Laguna season created massive waves, which came crashing down on the duo that was standing on the rear side of the last passenger car. If their clothes dried up now, they'd leave ugly salt spots.

"Let's just get inside, Sanji!", Usopp urged, grabbing his arm. He looked at his blond nakama with puppy eyes.

"Fine.", the cook said. "We've been outside for long enough.". Next the Vinsmoke raised his legs and kicked the door in, the Government agents inside looking at them wide-eyed.

"WHO'RE YOU, ASSHOLES?!", the bunch in black exclaimed furiously in disbelief. As they pointed their guns at the two pirates, the long-nosed hid behind Sanji.

"Hold up! You can't be ordinary civilians!", a white-haired man with a beard called out. And he was right.

"Let's report this to Lucci-san!", somewhone similar looking added.

Majority of the agents seemed to agree with that, one man stopped them. He was unique, yet only half unique. That man was much taller than everyone else, up to three times the size of an average human, yet the same as the government agents in terms of the black suit, AND the third person already with white hair and facial hair. "No. I don't think this concerns CP9.", Jerry spoke in an arrogant tone. "Cuz in this car, there's ME!"

Neither one, nor Usopp nor Sanji, liked arrogant guys. This one got more arrogant as time passed. "Am I the Boxing Champion coming from South Blue's Karate Island? Yes I am."

The blond-haired was not impressed. "Then do some karate.", he muttered out.

Apparently, such a simple statement made the remaining Government agents scared. "Hey! That's asking for death!", they yelled comically.

"Jerry Aurora Flicker Jab!", the overly tall man spoke, sending a flurry of several fast punches at the two pirates on board. While the technique itself wasn't super weak, his aim was. That's why Jerry kept hitting his own men who were screaming in pain.

When he finally realized his attack wasn't effective, he proceeded to boast more. "Oh? Nevermind, don't think you have an advantage for being small, my boxing is better in such a small space!"

To prove this, the man just sat down – awkwardly, his legs crossed behind his legs. "Yoga 1-2!"

"Your reach got shorter!", the chef and the sniper shouted with short teeth, now finding the man embarrassing.

"Really? Let's see. Screw Drive Kick!"

"You're already ignoring the rules of boxing!", they yelled out again.

Deciding it's a waste of time, the Vinsmoke leaped in the air, exactly over Jerry, then slammed his leg down vertically. "Brochette!"

And that's how CP6's Jerry was defeated. The sharpshotter clapped at his nakama for beating the loud-mouth down. Jaws were dropped by the men in black.

Now standing tall and without bowing again, Sanji fixed his gaze at the agents. "Usopp, you know what to do next?"

"Yeah, I know.", the marksman murmured, fiercely looking at the still jaw-dropping agents. During the next 10 seconds, every jaw was kicked back into its place. Severe pain was just a small side effect.

…

After the seventh car was taken care of, the two made plans on how to approach the next cars. Usopp just came up with an idea.

"Sanji, if those guys wake up, there's gonna be more trouble. I say we cut each car with enemies loose.", he suggested. Sanji actually liked that idea. "Sure thing. Now, this is more important. Robin-chwan could be in every car, we have to peek from the windows on the front and back of each car. Therefore we need to walk on the train. Got it?"

Suddenly after hearing that, the more cowardly one of the two got mad. "And what if I slip and fall off?!", he angrily exclaimed.

"You won't."

"Better be so!", Usopp let out his last words on this topic.

Following that, the cook peeked through the next car's rear window, eyeing tied-up Franky. The blond was intelligent and proficient in lip reading. Apparently, the cyborg roared out words he'd never even say to Zoro. But his biological dad? Maybe.

"Oi, Usopp!", the Vinsmoke began. "That Franky guy is inside the next car, let's get going!"

"Aye aye!", the long-nosed shouted, even though Sanji wasn't even his captain.

 ***Smash!*** Another door broken with a powerful kick, another group of agents in suits gaping at the intruders. "Let's just do this quick.", Sanji mumbled to himself. Within less than five seconds, every minor agent was down, the only one missing was the leader, though not for long. "Collier Frit!"

It didn't even make a difference.

Franky was hit by surprise there. Two of the Straw Hats came onto this train, were they there to rescue him? "You guys…", he started in awe, "that was SUUUUUUPEEEEER! Have you come to rescue me?"

The cook shook his head, which kind of disappointed the shipwright. "No, we didn't come for you.", the blond explained, breaking the heavy cyborg free of his heavy chains. "However, you're not an enemy, rather an ally, that's why we're freeing you here."

"Right!", Franky called in excitement. "I'll help you in taking out this blasted Government trash! Are you the strategist? If you are, what should we do?"

Anticipating such a question, the Vinsmoke told the sniper to explain him his plan, on which the next minute was spent.

While the explanation was going on in the background, Sanji both peeked through the next window and called Nami on his Den Den Mushi. Conclusion: no Robin, at least not from this perspective, and his friends were following on another Sea Train with loads of allies. "Alright you two, we're gonna walk over the car now. Don't slip, it'll cost you your life."

"Dammit Sanji!", the sharpshooter snapped in annoyance. Despite that, he knew he was right. So he prayed his feet wouldn't slip and keep him safe.

…

Contrary to the marksman's expectations, the surface of the car roof wasn't that slippery. Actually, it was pretty easy to get from Point A to Point B, as in rear and front end. Once that was done, the cook took a look again. "Eh, just some Marines.", he reported to his nakama and future nakama, before unhooking the car. "Good Riddance!"

Thus, Captain 'Ship Cutter' T-Bone and his men were left far behind. Few minutes later, same thing happened to CP7's chef Wanze.

…

Exactly one minute later, the blond told the second stage of his plan to his friends. "Alright, here's what we're going to do. Franky and I'll take care of that rat guy down there, quietly. Usopp, you get to the first car where Robin-chan most likely is. If she's there, get her out without making any noise and return. We'll detach the third car and wait for Luffy and the others while those jerks in front of us can get ready for a nasty surprise. If she's in the second car with the assassins, use a smoke bomb and RUN FOR IT! Understand?"

The future Straw Hat shipwright and Usopp blinked, and then smirked at the brilliant plan. The latter fully realized how much of a genius strategist the former royal was. "Roger that!", both called at the same time.

"Good.", the Vinsmoke said, getting ready to fight. While the stronger ones prepared themselves to take out CP9's newling Nero, the weakest one put on his Octopakutsu, sticky pink shoes in octopus-design. Using them, he would move forward on the car sides. 'Yosh! This isn't a time to back down! Show yourself how fearless you are, oh brave warrior Usopp!', he thought, slowly advancing forward, very slowly, almost as slowly as a geezer tortoise.

…

3 minutes later, after narrowly avoiding CP9's field of view by crawling sideways the train, the long-nosed arrived just at the side of Robin's window. His Octopakutsu were super reliable, as he was a genius inventor. Unluckily, his carpentry skills weren't as great.

*Chong* *Chong*

Upon hearing that, Robin turned her head sideways. She expected a bird or fish crashing into the window, since it was unlikely a human could knock from the outside. When a darker-skinned fist appeared, the Oharan was beyond surprised. To make matters worse, the 28-year-old just accepted she'd for sure never see her friends again. Now Usopp happened.

*Chongchongchongchongchong!*

"Sniper-san?!", the 79 Million Berry woman exclaimed, her blue eyes widened. Not only did he follow her up there, what the sniper did was also something dangerous. Any moment could he fall into the sea and die, and Robin wanted him alive like the rest.

As fast as she could, the archaeologist opened the window and let him in. Now that his life was out of danger, she could freely question him without worry. ""Why are you here…?", she demanded, acting furious. "How did you get here?"

Since explaining everything in detail would take away precious time, the sharpshooter just gave a brief answer. "Long story short, me and two others are here to save you."

"Sniper-san…", she wanted to reprimand him, but was interrupted.

"Sanji and Franky are also here.", the marksman informed. "Everyone else is following too, in another Sea Train with an army. I snuck in here while Sanji and Franky are holding the escape car ready."

The Oharan wanted to fake rant about how she wanted to die, but that would be a spit in the faces of those who went so far to save her life.

"We've been told the real story on Sanji's Den Den Mushi.", Usopp continued, reaching inside his bag. "Everyone knows everything, you can't leave anymore. Take these."

He pulled out four more of his octopus shoes. "Those four in the rear car look strong. By wearing these, you can sneak outside, without them noticing. Here, let's-"

"Just why are you doing this?!", the 79 Million Berry woman burst out. "Didn't I clearly tell you that I'd quit the group?! I'm not one of you anymore, go!"

Those were some strong words. Though, instead of shouting and yelling, the sniper only shook his head in disappointment. "Tsk tsk, don't you get it?", he asked in a quieter tone. "You don't have to worry about protecting us, you should've told us in the first place, before agreeing to this stupid deal. Do you actually believe we'd willingly sacrifice a friend to survive? Now that they know, they'll find your enemies and beat them up for what they did, me included."

"You don't understand what you're saying!", the 28-year-old shouted. "I never wanted for you guys to save me!"

Unfortunately for her, that shout had been a few decibels too loud. Corgi opened the door and stepped inside, immediately closing the door right after. "What're you yelling about, Nico Robin?! Are you crying about your future now?", the man mocked arrogantly. "You know it's too late for that, don't you-"

Corgi then noticed the long-nosed intruder. He was just about to report him to Rob Lucci, however, the Straw Hat wasn't unprepared. A lead ball hit the agent's temple, thus, he collapsed on the ground, unconscious.

Turning back, Usopp uttered out few more words. "Why won't you just have faith in Luffy?"

Faith. What a meaningful word, and an even more meaningful feeling. A feeling, Robin never had for 20 years. The situation she was in now, and her feelings towards her captain were a double-edged sword. She DID have faith, lots of faith in him and the crew. Nonetheless, she didn't want to be saved. For ONE reason.

"I told you, I'm not coming. I won't let you have your way!"

Sighing, the sniper turned his head to her face once again. "I didn't want to do this, but you leave me no other choice.", he spoke, raising his arms.

Next, he grabbed her body and climbed out of the window, greatly shocking the archaeologist. "What are you doing?!", she almost screamed, watching him crawl the sides of the train car. The sharpshooter didn't answer, rushing below window height.

…

Sanji nearly exploded out of happiness. "Awesome!", he yelled out in victory, striking hands with Usopp. Robin was back with them, their goal was accomplished. There was no reason to tag along further with the Sea Train, so Franky opened the front door of the car to unhook it. Just as was about to release the hook, a black shoe collided with his chin and sent him flying back into the middle section of the third car. That shoe belonged to Rob Lucci, standing in front of the other CP9 members. 'Shit! This is trouble!', the cook thought, gritting his teeth.

"Did you take us for fools?", Lucci demanded calmly, glaring at the pirates with killing intent. "Impressive, coming here and challenging us, but we have our mission. Nico Robin and Cutty Flam are coming to Enies Lobby with us. _That is final._ "

Noticing how the glare was _that_ murderous, the Oharan couldn't help but gasp for air and start sweating. "Y-yes. That is final. I'll go with you.", the 79 Million Berry woman said, walking towards the enemy.

A certain blond couldn't believe this. "Wait, Robin-chan! No!", he yelled, running after her. Blueno stepped in front of the angry running man, intending to stop him with Tekkai. "Don't bother, it's useless."

"I'll show you useless, you bastards!", the Vinsmoke exclaimed in fury, spinning his leg. "Concassé!"

As the accelerated kick connected, Blueno felt his Tekkai crumble, the effects being blood loss coming from the mouth. His fellow Government agents were very much surprised.

'He broke through Blueno's Tekkai!', Kaku thought warily.

Unexpectedly, Franky acted. He couldn't take it anymore. Those noble guys sacrificed so much to go after their friend, and she didn't want to go with them. He jumped at the CP9 agents, taking them with him into the second car. Only the strongest managed to dodge.

"And what do you think you're doing, Cutty Flam?", the Zoan asked in a mix of distaste and boredom.

"I can't stand this… she keeps doing this stuff, and her friends won't leave without her."

Despite her being impressed by his sacrifice for her nakama's cause, the 28-year-old continued on her path towards the second car.

"Wait, Robin-chan!", Sanji called at the top of his lungs again. "We've come this far to save you! Even if we were targeted by the Government's Buster Call, we'd find a way out! Why won't you just come with us?!"

"The Buster Call", Lucci suddenly began with a dark voice, "is the problem. Listen closely. Once something's been targeted with a Buster Call, nothing remains, absolutely nothing. Now here's the real deal. Even if we leave out all the crimes Nico Robin has commited after _that_ day, there are still two major crimes whose penalty is nothing short than death that she has committed. One, she has the ability to locate and summon ancient weapons capable of world destruction. A devil like that should just die for the better of the world."

Both Usopp and Sanji clenched their teeth at that remark, seething with rage.

"Second, at the age of 8, her home was targeted by a Buster Call which destroyed everything and killed everyone but her. From this day on, those memories burnt themselves into her brain, and the hate against the World Government into her heart. Because of her feelings towards the World Government, she must be eradicated. Following those two inexcusable crimes, her very existence is a sin."

Usopp nearly felt his heart drop. He thought he suffered a terrible past, but this one was heartbreaking. Even Sanji, whose past was also beyond terrible, felt infinitely sorry for her. All he and his sharpshooter nakama wanted to do was burning down the hideous World Government for its atrocities.

"To know that, and speak so lightly of that…", the ex-prince whispered, before roaring out, never that enraged before, "HOW ROTTEN CAN YOU GET, SCUM?!"

Those words were supposed to hit hard. Due to his emotionlessness however, the Leopard man just brushed the insults off like they were nothing. "Please, it's solely for justice.", he defended himself, now leaving the third car. "Oh, and as pirates, I wouldn't call others, especially Government workers, rotten."

By the looks of it, that was the last straw for Sanji, whose skin almost turned red. He sprinted towards Lucci, intending to kick his bones in. Very unfortunately, before unhooking the car, Lucci slapped Sanji back with a very strong hit.

"Ugh!", the cook let out, almost fainting.

"Sanji!", the marksman exclaimed in worry, rushing towards his friend to help him.

"Leave it.", the blond spoke, stopping him. "Let's just wait for our nakama, Usopp. Chopper can take care of us."

Deciding he was right, Usopp didn't bother to do anything but wait. He was a better doctor than Luffy or Zoro, but not anywhere near Chopper. Same thing with his carpentry and Franky.

…

10 minutes later, the two were picked up by their nakama and allies on the Rocket Man. There wasn't any time for a warm greeting, the Vinsmoke immediately told everything that happened and he learned, informing everyone about everything, including Robin's past and how they were shamelessly using those horrific memories to blackmail and force her into submission.

Luffy was the first to crack his fists. "I WON'T FORGIVE THEM!"

"WOOO! RIGHT!", Chopper agreed, ready to battle.

Some others didn't want to recklessly jump into battle, but no one had a chance against them anyway.

Meanwhile, Paulie was finished drawing a map of Enies Lobby. "I've been here once before for railroad maintenance.", he told, drawing everyone's attention. "I drew this based on what I could remember. The Gate of Justice is in front of the Judicial Tower. Behind that are the Court, the Front Gate, and the Main Gate. That black stuff is just a gigantic waterfall."

…

After some more details, Paulie went on with his main explanations. "The ideal way is to wait for 5 minutes on the beach, then fly with the Rocket Man straight onto the core island. That would be the most effective way to get there without many casualties."

Luffy nodded in understanding. "Good. You do it."

Everyone's face straightened up comically, then they all looked at him in disbelief. "WHAT?! Strawhat, you can't j-"

"Don't worry, I can get there faster than that. Kamisori!"

Within a split second, the black-haired was already gone. The ones who disagreed with him (pretty much everyone with few exceptions) wanted to both cheer and rant. They knew, he meant trouble for them, and could make their entrance easier by far, but he never listens, dammit!

"Alright, then!", Nami and Paulie yelled simultaneously, acting as co-captains. "Chaaaaaaaaarge!"

* * *

 **Phew, that was it. I knew I could've fleshed out more things on the Rocket man, but I wanted to write a Sanji and Usopp-centered chapter so bad. Usopp/Sanji fans will love it, the other ones will probably hate it :P . One of the biggest questions is, what is Robin's other reason she didn't leave with her friends? Find out next chapter! P. S.: It's gonna be hype! Constructive criticism allowed. Rate and review if you like.**


	26. C26: Like a Road Roller

**Never again!**

 **Well, I don't know how I feel about this. You haven't answered what you'd rather have, fast or slow pace. Meh, if no one replied, then I guess you're happy the way it is. I'll continue with the pace I feel is appropriate.**

 **Answer to gamelover41592: thanks**

 **Answer to Rogue Deity Master: I'll definitely kill off a few.**

 **Answer to the ginger15: that's an honor, thank you very much.**

 **Answer to Panda Sniper: Wait a few chapters please, some of Sniper King will appear.**

 **Answer to Wienberg: That's it, I'll do it depending on the scenario. Thank you.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**

* * *

 **Chapter 26: Like a Road Roller**

"Gomu Gomu no Gatling!", Luffy roared as he punched countless Marines and Government agents unconscious. And that was just in front of the Main Gate. Most were behind the Front Gate. This way, by going alone, he'd clear the path for his friends like a bulldozer and save his taken nakama faster. Poor little victims of the furious black-haired didn't even have time to report the happenings to Chief Spandam.

"Gomu Gomu no Rifle!"

One hit and the Main Gate was utterly crushed into pieces.

"Yosh! Front Gate's next!", the 17-year-old fiercely exclaimed, running forward to crush that one as well. He'd be there in no time.

…

Meanwhile, Spandam was fuming. CP9 was complete, his agents were there, they met again after 5 years. Inside the Judicial Tower, everything was fine. Not so fine however, seemed the situation in front of the Main Gate. He knew the Straw Hats would come to Enies Lobby in hope of saving the wanted criminal Nico Robin.

"Damn it!", the weak leader of Cipher Pol No. 9 cursed, slamming the earpiece of his Den Den Mushi on his grey table. "They must've done something to our communication system, those damn pirates!"

Lucci rolled his eyes. "Chief, shall we take care of them?", he suggested, 'taking care' meaning 'to kill'.

The masked man waved his hand up and down. "No, no, even if they did break through the Main Gate, they'll never get to us anyway. Let Oimo and Kashi show them what kind of nightmare Enies Lobby is for pirates like them.", he spoke, confident in his forces beneath him. "Oimo and Kashi can handle them, am I right, CP9?"

"Completely.", was their answer with a nod. Spandam grinned evilly at that, not knowing what awaited him.

…

At the same time, the two giants placed themselves in front of the Front Gate. The strawhat made LOTS of noise, so waking up wasn't hard for them. They loved sleeping, and weren't that happy to be waken up.

"Oh look, Oimo, it's just one ant.", Kashi remarked, easily towering over Luffy. "Let's squash him and get back to sleep."

'It's those giants who helped us. Sogeking… no, Usopp was friends with them, I think.', the future Pirate King thought. 'Shishishi! Two new allies!'

"Excuse me.", the 160 Million Berry man spoke up, slightly confusing the two giants. "I'd much rather like to ally you than beat you up, is it hard to consider changing sides?"

Oimo and Kashi blinked three times, then rubbed their eyes, before cleaning their ears. They weren't confused anymore, they were outright baffled. "Did you just say you'd beat us up, tiny human?"

"I'd kick your asses, giants or not.", the rubber man proudly stated. The giants didn't like that.

"Okay, then we'll crush you!", Kashi shouted, swinging down his axe simultaneously alongside Oimo and his club.

In short, they made long faces once Luffy caught both of their weapons with ease and lifted them up.

"D-don't!", Oimo uncharacteristically screamed. "I'm scared of heights!"

Kashi thought the same thing, but chose not to say anything. To their surprise, the boy put both of them down. "Are you gonna switch sides now?"

"W-we can't!", Kashi called in order to shut down the brat's persistence. "We must serve the World Government for 50 more years before they let our captains leave prison."

"Y-yeah.", Oimo added. "If we don't get Captains Dorry and Brogy out of there, we'll be a shame to Elbaf!"

Suddenly, Luffy came to a realization. "Wait, your captains were Dorry and Brogy?", the black-haired repeated, surprised by that fact.

Both giants quickly nodded.

"I see.", the 17-year-old said, looking them in the eyes. "Then you've been deceived all along."

Kashi's and Oimo's eyes opened wide up and bulged out. An instinct of those said the boy was speaking the truth. "Whaaaaaaat?!"

"Yeah, Dorry and Brogy aren't here, I've seen them on Little Garden with my crew.", the strawhat told. "And if you don't believe me, then listen to that. Gegyagyagyagyagyagya! Gababababababa!"

Those laughs were not inrecognizable. How could the human know these laughs, if he came here from the first time? And he couldn't possible be from Impel Down as well. Now the duo of giants had dark, shadowed eyes.

"Alright, we're on your side now. What do you want us to do, boss?"

The future Pirate King sighed. "Don't call me boss, it's unusual. Go help my friends at the Main Gate."

"Understood.", they let out, before running down the path the rubber man came from with, literally, heavy steps.

'Yosh! One down, one more to go.', the 160 Million Berry man thought, before pulling back his right arm. "Gomu Gomu no Pistol!"

Thus, the Front Gate was pulverized as well.

…

At the same time, in a location not far, the Rocket Man was just about to pass through the Main Gate. Luffy had proven himself to be VERY useful.

"Heheh, this is great!", Nami cheered, throwing her arms up in the air to celebrate. "Now we can just go straight through and don't have to worry about getting shot at!"

"I have to agree with that.", Paulie muttered under his breath filled with cigar smoke, readying knots to knock out some awakened guards. "Rope Action: Half-Knot Air Drive!"

Still injured and hurt from Luffy's punches, the guards were fragile, and collapsed upon impact, causing no problems for the invading army.

Unexpectedly, two giants were running in their direction, weapons raised. The Straw Hats and company weren't not alarmed.

"Oi, giants!", Zoro exclaimed, his swords raised as well. "I'll cut you up if you fight us!"

Immediately, the two started waving their hands in defense, reassuring they weren't hostile. "No need, Strawhat-boss told us to help you guys out."

"They mean Luffy.", Usopp clarified, playing Captain Obvious. 'So he convinced giants to help us out, that's my captain! I wonder if those two are from Elbaf.', he thought afterwards.

The Franky Family grinned widely at the useful additional help. "The more the merrier.", Zambai said, cheering along with the rest of his gang. "We're unstoppable! Let's continue!"

"For Franky-bro!", the other Franky Family members, Mozu and Kiwi in the foreground cheered, striking a fist into the air.

Truly an unforgettable moment.

…

"Gomu Gomu no Stamp Gatling!", the black-haired continued, making his feet rain down upon countless soldiers. No mercy, relentless. Over 80% had already been taken down. The Kosei-naru Juuichinin no Baishin'in, or Just Eleven Jurymen and the Hou no Banken Butai, or Watchdog Unit of the Law were completely down.

'I could've used King's haki here but beating them all up with my fists is so much better!', he reasoned, continuing his barrage. He detected his nakama and allies approaching from behind with Observation haki.

15 seconds later, the final group of remaining Marines was also taken out.

Spandam who was watching from the tower felt his blood boil. There was no mistaking. "Blueno! Go outside immediately and kill him!", the purple-haired ordered, almost screaming. That was the worst day in Enies Lobby's history and could cost him not only his promotion but also his rank.

"Of course.", the large man replied, turning around to leave the Judicial Tower. Immediately after that he opened up a door in the air and stepped inside. Dealing with wild rookies certainly wasn't his favourite job.

…

Cheers of success sounded out when the 17-year-old met with his group again.

"Wow, Luffy!", Nami exclaimed in joy. "You did it, you freed the way for us! Now all we have to do is lowering the bridge and save Robin."

Everyone seemed to agree, but then one outsider butted in out of nowhere and ruined the moment. "Straw Hat Pirates, you aren't going to free Nico Robin.", the bull-like man claimed. "Your lives end on this island."

Slowly, the strawhat turned his head towards him, a bored expression on his face. Blueno didn't expect him to say much and begin with the action.

And he was right. "Shut up.", the future Pirate King said, punching the CP9 agent with medium strength. He was oneshotted.

"Tch.", Lucci spat, watching from the Judicial Tower. "Those 5 years in the bar must've dulled him. He's grown pathetically weak.". Even the weaker CP9 members agreed.

Cipher Pol 9's boss was about to go crazy. He was sweating, shaking irregularly and holding his head. A random stranger would've guessed that man escaped an asylum. He certainly was demented and sick enough…

…

One minute passed. Sanji the strategist came up with an idea on how to safely save Robin. "Listen everyone, I'm about to tell you the plan.", the chef announced, prompting everyone to look at him and pay attention. "Franky Family and Galley-La should lower the bridge. After that we should get on the Sea Train and get straight to the Judicial Tower. There we can fight our way through and save Robin-chan. How does it sound?"

"Hmmm.", the 160 Million Berry man mused, before coming to an answer. "Sounds good, but I want to speak to Robin. We the main crew should get on top of the court."

That statement of his confused quite a lot of people. "Erm, Luffy?", Chopper asked, raising his brow. "How can you talk to Robin when she's being held inside?"

Characteristically, a smile formed on Luffy's face despite the confusion of pretty much everyone else. "3, 2, 1.", he spoke, confusing everybody even more.

 ***Boom!***

The crash came from the Judicial Tower. Inside, the guards including Spandam had been tricked into Franky being a human bomb by the cyborg himself. By doing his trick, he along with Robin made it out of their shackles onto a balcony.

"Shishishi! This is what I was talking about.", the rubber man confirmed, _greatly_ perplexing all of his crew and allies. His advanced Observation haki he learned thanks to Katakuri was more than impressive. After less than two seconds passing, he grabbed all of his still surprised crew and leaped high up in the air, landing on top of the Court shortly after. Meanwhile, CP9 had also stepped onto the balcony of their tower.

The heavy confrontation finally began.

…

Despite all of her pleas and words, her nakama followed her to this island. The Oharan felt two different feelings, happiness and anger. She was truly loved, but her captain just wouldn't listen. "You guys…", the 28-year-old began, ticked off, "how many times have I told you not to rescue me?! I want to die!"

Spandam giggled to himself, while most Straw Hats showed shocked reactions. His promostion, at least to him, seemed close.

"No way…", Nami let out, almost wheezing. 'That has to be a lie!'

"Robin-chwan…", Sanji followed, baffled how the nakama he knew could say that.

"Hahahahahaha!...", Luffy began to laugh out after his nakama showed similar reactions to Nami and Sanji. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Everybody stared, glared at him, wondering what's so funny when there's nothing funny at all.

"You want to die?", the black-haired repeated, ridiculing that sentence. "How long are you going to lie to yourself. We all know you want to live. You know that the most!". That last sentence was more of a deserved scolding.

For some seconds she considered those words. They were true, she didn't want to die, but life and fate were unfair tragedies.

"Wahahahaha!", the masked weakling of CP9 laughed out, pointing his finger at the archaeologist. "We all know you pirates don't want to die. Thankfully there's CP9 to take your lives.". Then he pulled a golden Den Den Mushi out of his pocket. "And I can just press that little button and reduce your chances of survival to zero."

The eyes of the 79 Million Berry woman flared up in fear, then turned into hate. "You… Don't do that!", Robin screamed. "If you press that button, everyone's going to die!"

"What're you talking about, woman?!", Spandam snapped, visibly irritated. "They wouldn't shoot on US, the World Government!"

"Believe what I say! They're gonna reduce everything to nothing! 20 years ago that Buster Call took away my home and everything I had!"

"Ahah, yes, Ohara the land of the devils. They sure did a good job erasing that country off the maps!", the purple-haired sneered arrogantly, causing the Straw Hats to deeply hate him.

"There are no humans on a map…", Robin weakly mumbled, making even Spandam shut up for few seconds. Those were heavy, true words that could make anybody think.

Images of Ohara, her mother, Saul, everything flashed through her mind. The Oharan looked like she was close to a breakdown, though she wasn't. The memories still hurt.

"My friends.", the archaeologist continued in sorrow. "I wanted to be with you, but I can't. My enemy is the 'world' and its 'darkness'. One day, the hardships that'll await you will make even good-natured people like you turn against me. This is the reason I must die to protect you!"

"Robin…", Chopper muttered, hurt by the fact the injustice placed upon his nakama makes her say such things.

Zoro kept quiet. 'So that's the reason…'

Before Spandam could taunt her again, Luffy went to protest. "No, don't do that, Robin! We're strong enough to get you out of there! Believe in us!"

"Luffy.", the 28-year-old changed the topic. "Do you remember what you told me on Jaya? I fully believe in your strength, but what about _them_? I don't want you to lose _them_ for me, it would break my heart!"

*Thump* *Thump*

Just then, his eyes widened as he came to the realization of the century. With _them,_ Robin meant his nakama. Of course, she cared about her other nakama the world as well, but she cared so much for him that she would rather die than have him relive that nightmare in his previous life. But that only added more fuel into the fire.

Eyes shadowed, the 17-year-old looked at the 79 Million Berry woman and his future shipwright. "Franky, Robin, I want you to throw yourselves on the floor!", he sternly called.

"W-what? Why?!", Franky demanded, not aware of what the strawhat was planning.

"Just do it!", the future Pirate King roared, scaring the hell out of him. Both him and Robin did as wished and threw themselves onto the floor.

Then the 160 Million Berry man jumped into the air. "Armament!", he exclaimed, turning his leg black. The next thing that happened shocked everyone beyond their imagination. "GOMU GOMU NO MUCHI!"

He swung his leg like a whip and sliced through the Judicial Tower with it, making it shorter by the width of his right leg. Even CP9 acknowlegded the move too powerful to block with Tekkai and dodged, minus Spandam, who got the lower left side of his face mutilated. He'd need a new leather mask covering the entire lower portion of his face.

CP9 slowly got back to their feet after narrowly evading that devastating move. To them it was clear they underestimated the rubber man. They were cautious from that moment on.

Spandam himself didn't bother being cautious, not even after getting his face kicked in. "Y-y-you bastard, Strawhat!", he furiously bellowed like the madman he was. "Don't you know who I am?! I am the great Spandam, a representative of the World Government! The World Government is the world! Neither you nor your crew nor that damn criminal woman will get away with it!". The entire time after getting kicked the CP9 leader was breathing and raging like crazy. Not a single bit did he notice how crazy he sounded. "Do you understand, you insignificant little turds?!"

His eyes dark and shadowed again, Luffy nodded calmly. "Yeah… I perfectly understand not only who Robin's enemy is, but who the world's people's enemy is.", he spoke, treating the World Government like garbage in his speech. "Usopp, shoot down that flag up there!"

Usopp smirked at his captain's order. "Roger! Now carefully behold my new weapon, Kabuto!", the long-nosed responded, showing off his new slingshot, a long green slingshot with much more accuracy and firepower. "Hi no Tori Boshi!"

The firebird aimed at the World Government flag on top of the Judicial Tower set the piece of cloth on fire. CP9, especially their leader was in great shock.

"Y-Y-YOU BASTARDS FUCKING DID IT!", the masked man half-screeched, turning insane. "Do you realize what you've done?! You've declared war on the world!"

"I can live with that!", the black-haired strongly shouted, angering Spandam even more. "Now Robin, say you wanna live! No more lying to yourself!"

Tears started coming out of her eyes, as well as a tiny bit of snot out of her nose. **[One does not simply cry without his/her nose running, not in the One Piece World].** It was finally time for her to confess her true wish with her nakama. "I WANT TO LIVE! Take me out to the sea with you, get me out of here!"

Now it was time for the Straw Hats to smile. They only had one job, getting Robin out of there.

"Bwaaaaaah! I love you guys, dammit~!", Franky cried, wiping away tear and snot.

Shortly after, the bridge was also lowered. Lucci's expression changed into a dark, evil grin. He basically was allowed to brutally kill them the most violent way possible.

On the other side of the island, Rocket Man was getting started by Kokoro. Their plan was about to come to frution. At the very same time, Franky pulled blueprints out of his body. Spandam noticed this, and started yelling again. "Cutty Flam, are those the blueprints of Ancient Weapon Pluton?! It can't be!"

The cyborg held the blueprints up, flipping through the pages. "Kaku, Lucci, you should both know this is the real deal, right?"

"You bastard…", Kaku spat, slowly getting flustered.

"Gimme those blueprints, Cutty Flam! They're mine! Hand them over immediately!", a certain man shouted, severely annoying the cyborg who was about to give a long speech.

"Hey Spanda! Tom-san and Iceburg were men that staked their lives on these sheets of paper. If Pluton fell into the hands of an utter moron like you, and things started getting violent, another weapon would be born. One that would stop your uncontrolled mess, as wished by the original designer." … "Nico Robin can surely awaken those weapons for you, she's a dangerous woman. But those are her true friends that are defending her!"

He took a short break. "I don't have many ways to go, so I'd like to take a gamble here."

"Quit yer yammering and hand over those damn blueprints!"

Spandam the douchebag was promptly ignored and the blueprints incinerated with a fire blast coming out of his mouth. The expressions of each CP9 member minus Blueno that spent all those years infiltrating Water 7 darkened.

"The mission we've spent five vears on…", Kalifa uttered out, full of disappointment.

Her boss took it much worse. "Raaaaaaaaaagh! I'm gonna kill you, bastard!"

Franky was having the last laugh, and he enjoyed it. "The blueprints I carried for the purpose of creating the power that your government tried to take…! Originally, I was just supposed to keep it unknown from the rest of the world. But should the time come where it sees the light of day, it must be destroyed! But now that the power that opposes the weapons has been lost, and Nico Robin would slip through your fingers, you'd be helpless! So if the Straw Hats win, you'll be left with nothing. I'm betting everything I've got on their victory!"

CP9 was getting a taste of defeat, and all Straw Hats were grinning at that. Spandam could do anything but accept defeat. "Give me back… my blueprints!", he yelled, pushing Franky off the balcony attempting to drown him below.

Then a howl of horns was heard, which was Kokoro's signal. "Alright, here goes.", Sanji muttered, giving his weaker nakama the signal to jump. Zoro, Luffy and him would pull off a different stunt.

From CP9's view, it was sudden. A Sea Train crashed through the court, jumping off the lowered bridge. Usopp, Franky, Chopper and Nami were safely carried to the other side with Rocket Man. The Monster Trio used Geppo in order to reach the Judicial Tower.

So far, the Straw Hat Pirates ravaged Enies Lobby like a road roller, an unstoppable road roller.

 **That was it for this chapter. It's shorter, but for quick plot progression. Next chapter will be very long and cover the remainders of the Enies Lobby Arc. Also, it's late but Merry Christmas to everyone. I thought it'd be rude if I never wished you that.** **Constructive criticism allowed. Rate and review if you like.**


	27. C27: Straw Hat Pirates vs CP9 - fatality

**Never again!**

 **Hello everybody, today's gonna be a special day, isn't it? It's time for the long awaited battle, Straw Hat Pirates vs CP9. Don't expect the battles to be the best ever, cause some of them will be extremely one-sided for the Straw Hats. There will be character deaths like some of you wished, so prepare for some brutal moments.**

 **Answer to El Pirato:** **Thank you, I'll do it just like that.**

 **Answer to ThePsychoPath96:** **Nah, it's way too early for Gear 4, he doesn't even need Gear 2 to beat him.**

 **Answer to Meazm:** **He did cut the tower in half, at least horizontally. The pieces just connected quickly again.**

 **Answer to TokusatsuLuv: Lucci and the others joining the Straw Hats sounds odd to me. Only Kaku is compatible with them, at least in my opinion.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**

* * *

 **Chapter 27: Straw Hat Pirates vs CP9 – fatality!**

Just after few fast steps in the air, the strongest fighters of the Straw Hats landed on the balcony where all of CP9 except for Blueno was standing. They looked at each other with hate/bloodlust in their eyes.

Spandam started to growl and grabbed Robin by her hair. "CP9! Deal with the pirates! I'll take Nico Robin with me!", he ordered, greatly angering the three pirates by the fact that he was hurting their nakama like that.

"Stop pulling her hair, asswipe!", Luffy roared, attempting to stop Spandam. Fortunately for the latter, Lucci reacted fast and stepped inbetween them. "Your fight is with me, Strawhat. Don't you dare ignore me.", he stated, eager to rip his opponent apart with his claws.

"Oh you bastard…"

"Kaku, Jabra, you stay here and fight these other fools! The rest eliminate the pirates below you!", the purple-haired barked. Fukurou, Kumadori and Kalifa nodded, making their way downwards.

The Giraffe Zoan eyed Zoro, carefully assuming his strength. "It seems you'll be my opponent, Pirate Hunter."

"Tch. I won't be expecting much from you.", the green-haired scoffed, intending to end his fight quickly.

Zoro was not impressed by Kaku. Jabra laughed at that.

"Stop laughing, you idiot!", Kaku said with an annoyed voice, looking at his partner in an angry manner. "My doriki was already higher than yours, now with my new fruit I'm even further away from you."

Jabra was about to tear up of laughter after that statement. "No, stop, hahaha! It's more like a downgrade! Who'd want a lame power like you!"

Knowing about how Jabra wasn't a very pleasant person and how he himself was sensitive about his love for giraffes, the square-nosed decided to play it calm. "Whoever takes our opponents down faster…", he whispered disdainfully.

"Gni haha! I'm gonna beat you, square nose!"

Meanwhile, Zoro and Sanji were thinking the same after having heard the entire conversation. "You hear that, mosshead? I'll beat the mustache guy faster than you beat fake Usopp!"

"Over my dead body, dart-brows!"

Flashes of lightning appeared between their challenging eyes, but one second later they smirked at each other, secretly wishing good luck. Then they lunged at the respective third and second strongest of Cipher Pol 9.

…

A lot further downstairs, the Straw Hats exited the Rocket Man, almost unscathed. With their fingers and iron will only, they pushed fallen rocks off them and stood up like champions.

"Woo, yeah!", Chopper exclaimed, standing in front of his nakama as if he was leading the group. "Now we're saving Robin!"

The other seemed to agree and wanted to hurry as well, but three CP9 agents blocked their way. Two were standing on top of some stairs, and one of them was standing on the air inbetween two walls at a corner. That one was Fukurou.

"Chapapa! They've broken in…", he muttered, certainly astounded by that. "You won't find Nico Robin… Even if you went to that room you saw earlier, Chief Spandam is taking her to the Gates of Justice. He's heading there now, but I won't tell you how to get there! And us CP9 won't allow you to follow because we've received the order to obliterate you! Chapapa."

"There's no way for you to free Nico Robin unless you defeat us.", Kalifa added, pushing up her thin glasses.

Then she nearly cringed as Fukurou pulled out a key they were supposed to keep a secret. "Look at this key. This is a key to Nico Robin's kairoseki handcuffs."

"Kairoseki?", Chopper asked, unfamiliar with this word. Luckily for him, the smart navigator Nami shared her knowledge. "Kairoseki is a stone that nullifies devil fruit powers. It has the same effect as when you fall into the sea."

Chopper put one and one together and became furious. "Is that why Robin's obedient while she's strong?", he snapped at CP9.

Fukurou ignored him and continued babbling out information. "There are five keys and only one of them is the right one. If you want them so bad, fight us or we'll throw them into the sea."

Nobody said anything for a few seconds. The three pirates didn't even know who their current leader was. "Should we fight them now, Nami?", Usopp finally asked, deciding she knows better than him.

"Yes.", the ginger promptly declared, slamming her new Perfect Clima-Tact on the floor, more energetic than usually. "We've come this far and can't fail Robin! Give them your best beatings!"

"Hellll yeaaaaah!", Franky also agreed, posing in front of the Government agents. "I'll help you guys beat them up, Let me just get some cola!"

The cyborg then began running into the corridor in the right. Now that he destroyed the plans, the blue-haired was no longer needed to be kept alive. So Fukurou ran after him in order to take his life, which left Usopp, Nami and Chopper with Kumadori and Kalifa.

Both groups were ready to resort to utmost violence, the fight beginning.

…

"Stand back, Kumadori. I want to show them my new devil fruit powers.", Kalifa spoke, placing her hands forward.

"Yoyoi! That is o-kaaaaay~", Kumadori sang, leaping away with one foot. The kabuki-like man never realised he got on his partners' nerves.

"Golden Hour!", the blonde woman called, releasing a stream of bubbles. The bubbles were solely aimed at Chopper to show off her ability. Slowly, his skin and fur turned smooth. So smooth, it looked like he was a normal human without any fur. So smooth, it looked shiny.

Instinctively, the reindeer tried moving, but slipped and fell on his back. "Wha…", he let out, astonished. "What happened to my body? Why can't I move?"

"Surprised?", Kalifa asked mockingly, adjusting her glasses. "My Awa Awa no mi makes everything so smooth, it becomes slippery to the point it can't even move properly. That's how I rob my opponents' strength."

Nami gasped at that, stepping back with her right foot. That was a very dangerous ability, and she could fall victim to that at any moment. The orange-haired made a note to herself to tell Usopp he should incorporate that ability into her climate tact.

Kumadori seemed impressed as well, but this time he wanted a battle. So he leaped back to Kalifa's side on one foot again. "Yoyoi! Kaaa~riiii~faaaa~-channn~, would you let me take on that lady over there?"

"No", she merely said, shaking her head once. "And that's sexual harrassment."

"Very well~!", the kabuki said, leaping onto the side but tripping. Because he couldn't get out of the way, a soap attack intended for Nami hit his feet, partially handicapping his mobility.

"Oh-noooo~! My feeet~, yoyoi!", Kumadori exclaimed in a rather comical and sad tone. "What shall I do now~?"

"Meanwhile, the doctor of the Straw Hats finally managed to sit upright after stressing his body to the extreme. He was heavily panting after overworking his muscles. "*pant* N-nami! Oi! *pant* Get me some water!", the Zoan user wheezed.

"Water?", Nami questioned after rolling onto her left to evade the CP9 woman's technique. "Why?"

"Don't you know? *pant* This is soap, and water dissolves soap! Quick, so I can fight again!"

'That's right! Soap is in my bathroom, how could I not know that?', the navigator thought, sweating a little. 'What a smart guy Chopper is!'. Full of confidence she lifted her blue baton and verbally challenged her opponent. "Woman! I now know the weakness of your devil fruit, and I shall use it! I am not unprepared! Cloudy Tempo!"

A small, light grey cloud exited the new weapon's holes at its end, rising up a few meters above their heads. "Rain Tempo!"

It began showering. The ground became darker due to the water and all the soap on both Kumadori and Chopper's skin dissolved. The blonde woman got annoyed by this, but her overall demeanor hadn't changed much.

"So what, girl? You dissolved my soap. I can still produce new soap or kill you with Rokushiki.", she reasoned. "Speaking of Rokushiki, I'm in the mood for some blood. Bloodless deaths are boring."

"Shinaru Shigan: Whip!", Kalifa shouted, whipping her arms forward to stab Nami. The attacks were quite fast, and she had a hard time dodging them but dodged nonetheless. The navigator didn't have haki yet evaded every strike by subconsciously using Kami-e.

"Oh, so you use Rokushiki, girl? I might have more fun killing you.", the blonde declared, not stopping her attack. She pushed forward and forward, not leaving the ginger any space to do anything more than defend herself.

Meanwhile, Chopper just barely managed to free himself from Kumadori's binding hair after he demonstrated Seimei Kikan to manipulate his hair length. Their fight had been short at that point, only beginning seconds ago.

"W-what happened to your hair?", the doctor questioned, realizing it could mean trouble for him.

"Yoyoi!". Kumadori stood still at his spot in order to explain his way of fighting. "At the sea for a thousand years, and at the mountains for a thousand years, breathing the wind and drinking pure water, he passed the training of a Sennin. Enduring it all, he gained the Life Return. Humans are able to, from the hair on their head to their intestines, their toes, even to their most minute hairs, to concentrate their senses and stretch them to their limits, making it possible to control every part of their bodies.". Although the time needed for mastery of Seimei Kikan was a vast exaggeration, the benefits granted from learning the technique were all true. The reindeer was surprised and in shock. He'd heard of something similar before, but now he'd found a method able to replace his tiresome and limited Rumble Balls. Seimei Kikan was, from there on, on his to-do-list.

He smirked. "I see. So you moving your hair like an octopus is because of that ability."

The pale kabuki felt the urge to correct him, since he'd never thought of himself as an octopus before. "Oh, no, yoyoi! I am not an octopus! Call me…", he spoke, getting into a pose where one hand is outstretched, "a manly lion! I am a manly lion!"

Sweatdropping, the Zoan secretly reached behind his back to pull out a Rumble Ball. He wasn't going to defeat him with just his three default transformations.

"Rumble!", Chopper shouted as he bit through the yellow candy. Kumadori realized he was too distracted and proceeded to correct his mistake by using his staff. "Shigan: Cue!"

"Guard Point!"

Said reindeer's fur fluffed up and greatly increased his defense. The staff barely did any damage.

"Arm Point!"

Shrinking his fur and enlarging his arms, the blue-nosed jumped forward at his enemy. That enemy thought of that move as insolence. "Yoyoi! Don't think you can get past this! Tekkai: Go!"

"Kokutei Roseo Metel!", Chopper yelled, striking the kabuki-like man with a barrage of painful hoofs. Blood came out of Kumadori's mouth as smoke came out of the hoof imprints on his suit.

"Guagh!", the victim let out, almost falling on his back. Just then he realized he grossly underestimated his opponent and that attack could've cost him his battle.

Though, Kumadori wasn't that weak. Full of rage, blinded by fury, he stood up, enlarging his hair. "Insolence!", the CP9 agent screamed out, angrier than ever. "If the lion is made angry, no longer can he hold back!"

With a silent Soru, he disappeared out of the doctor's eyes. The latter nervously looked around, trying to guard himself from all sides. Then, the pale man with strange mannerisms appeared, unleashing his inner lion's fury. "Shishi Shigan!"

His pale pink hair turned as hard as steel and stabbed holes into the Zoan user's body. Not every stab was automatically a hit, but from the few hits Chopper felt his energy slowly leaking out.

Kumadori continued with various other attacks, such as Rankyaku. Nami carefully looked over to her nakama as she was still dodging Kalifa's attacks. "Chopper, stay alive!"

Kalifa grinned and made us of the minor distraction. Because Nami's Kami-e technique became slightly slower, she took advantage of this and backhanded the girl about 5 meters back. The navigator's cheek turned red, indicating the strike being painful. "Hahaha! You should care about yourself during a battle to death!", the CP9 woman scoffed.

Rubbing her aching cheek, the ginger stood back up, glaring at her female foe. She'd decided to unleash her imroved lightning attack.

It never came to that, however. The Rumble Ball's time of merely 3 minutes came to an end, and Chopper barely had enough energy to stay alive.

"N-nami…", he croaked, coughing up blood. "Run… run as fast as you can away from here! I'm… I'm gonna use my last resort. You might get hurt… run away!"

"W-what?!", the orange-haired freaked out, shocked those things came out of her friend's mouth. "I might get hurt? What're you talking about?!"

"Yes, what are you talking about?", Kalifa angrily demanded. She didn't want her victims escaping out of her clutches when she'd already decided to kill them.

"Just run…"

For 5 seconds, Nami blankly stared at the Zoan, sweating. Then she ran to the next door, hoping to be far enough away from him. She trusted her nakama and knew it would be better to not get in his way.

'I might die using this again, but at least I'll be taking those two with me.', the blue-nosed thought, smiling before putting three Rumble Balls at the same time in his mouth. 'Sorry Doctor Kureha, I'm breaking my promise.'

Suddenly, something happened to Chopper's body. Out of nowhere, he reached sizes unimaginable to Nami or CP9. He dwarfed Kumadori who himself was very tall, and made the two Government agents who'd rarely been impressed feel uneasy. Chopper appeared _much, much_ stronger than before. Not because he was a reindeer, a human, or a reindeer-human hybrid, but because he was a monster.

His eyes shining bright blue, the monster doctor screamed in a low yet extremely powerful tone, making the agents stand still and refuse to attack. Nami, still hiding behind the door, had wide and scared eyes from the sight of her nakama turned into a yeti-like monster. 'What's happened to you, Chopper?!', was all she could think. The navigator didn't know about this ability, but she still figured it wasn't all good for his body and health.

"BUOOOOOOOOOOH!", the wild Zoan user screamed, shattering some rocks around just with his voice.

Ten seconds passed, still no attack from Chopper. During that time, the Government duo remembered who they were and showed confidence again. They went so far to think of the pirate as a sheep in wolf's clothing and attacked him as a pair – a foolish mistake. With one strike, he overwhelmed any Tekkai they could've possibly used, and shattered at least 30% of their bones. Much to the CP9 members' surprise, the monstrous 'creature', as they thought of him, had such a great attack speed despite his size.

Both Kumadori and Kalifa were slapped into the ground, creating a crater on the granite floor. Blood and handcull keys were spilled.

Of course, in this form the Zoan was out of control and couldn't think for himself, but strangely, he acted like he was still on the Straw Hats' side. The blue-nosed walked over to the two who'd turned unconscious, picked them up and went towards the corridor Franky and Fukurou have run some time ago.

Nami was safe and sound, with no chance of having harm come to her after Monster Chopper left the room. She'd just go and pick up the keys in a minute, but for a brief period of time, all the navigator wanted to do was silently pray for Chopper's well-being.

…

5 minutes later, the large monster arrived inside the Judicial Tower's kitchen and spotted Franky plus Fukurou with his sharp, yet cold eyes.

Previously, while Franky was running away from the green-haired CP9 agent, Fukurou was the dominating fighter. All the cyborg was supposed to do is run in order to find cola to reload his strength. The zipper-mouthed man was a pain in the ass, but once the blue-haired got to drink his favourite beverage, the tables were turned faster than Fukurou's Soru. Neither Jugon, nor Tekkai, nor Rankyaku could stop the pervert. Franky was 90% finished with beating the crap outta 'Chapapa-guy', when his future nakama's floor-breaking feet entered the large kitchen.

Both Franky and Fukurou needed some time, but in the end they realized who that monstrosity was. The latter was especially surprised, since to him it was clear the little reindeer whom he earlier thought of as just a fodder weakling was indeed the one who beat a Devil Fruit user and his colleague who was stronger than him. By the way his face looked like, one could say the round man with weird quirks and mouth was terrified of what could potentially happen to him. 'Chapapa… go away…!'

As sealed away from morals as he was in that state, the Zoan user slowly stepped over to Fukurou, who got in a defensive stance. Once he was right in front of the Cipher Pol agent, he shoved Kalifa and Kumadori into the zipper-mouthed's face. This turned Fukurou's body stiff for 10 seconds.

BUT, that wasn't _the_ outrageous, terrifying thing the doctor did. Right after that, he tossed both of them out of a large circular hole Franky made in the wall. The green-haired immediately knew the joint fate of his comrades. Death. They were thrown into the waterfall while unconscious, which meant they'd both drown, especially Kalifa.

The cyborg gaped at Chopper, wide-eyed. Even for him, a man with a complex personality who'd partially experienced death it was astounding how fast a child-like caring person can turn into an emotionless killer. Chopper wasn't himself, but the blue-haired didn't know that. "Woah, dude…!"

And to top it all off, he turned Fukurou into a pancake after said agent was too stiffened to dodge the reindeer's flattening palm strike.

"Dobeba…", was all the man could manage to utter out before his eyes rolled back and he collapsed. Out of all CP9 fighters, he always was the least courageous, though that didn't mean he was a scared cat. After all, he was a superhuman and was capable of controlling his emotions better than normal humans. But superhuman or not, he was still human. When Chopper walked inside the kitchen, it was the first time since his childhood that he felt fear, instinctive fear. However, fear was justified in his case, since he, despite his superhuman skills, was just a human, albeit a strange one, and his opponent a monster. If Fukurou was still conscious, he would admit being lucky to survive against a monster.

Franky's mouth was still wide open. That reindeer was strong, the shipwright came to respect him. One second later though, Franky had to rapidly jump away from his spot. Berserk reindeer monster was attacking.

'He's outta control', the cyborg thought in mid-air. 'I need to do something.'

"Buooooooh!", the doctor screamed again, smashing a large piece of the wall away.

Once he landed on his feet, the blue-haired tried to reason with Chopper. "Oi, oi! Stop it! I'm your ally, right?"

That didn't work at all, since the Zoan promptly turned around and slammed his pitch black palm onto where Franky was standing, creating a large crater in the ground.

'Damn!', the pervert inwardly cursed, jumping away again. 'So there's no point in talking, huh? Guess I have to use defensive tactics before I accidently kill him in self defense.'

The cyborg then leaped onto Chopper's neck, grabbing his shoulders. He assumed the reindeer wouldn't be smart enough to do something that might put him in danger.

And he was kinda right. While Chopper didn't try to hit Franky off his back, or didn't try to squash him by slamming his own back against the ground, the Zoan user climbed up the Judicial Tower instead. If Chopper fell, Franky would fall as well. But Chopper wouldn't fall, because climbing a tower to its top was too easy for him anyway.

…

3 minutes later, Monster Chopper alongside Franky on his back arrived at the same height level of the balcony where two of the Monster Trio were fighting. Luffy and Lucci's fight moved further inwards. The yeti-like version of the doctor was near the edge of the tower, which meant he was close enough to be seen by his nakama.

"That's Chopper?", Sanji asked, surprised by his transformation. The cook scratched his head. "How surprising, it seems he'd been hiding this form all along. Just why is he climbing the tower? Hey, Chopper, why are you climbing the damn tower?"

"BUOOOOOH!", the reindeer screamed, confusing Sanji.

"Oi! What kind of answer is that?"

Kaku, in his half giraffe form, shook his head and facepalmed. "Oh man, are you blind?", he complained. "Look at his eyes, he's obviously out of control, a savage beast that doesn't know who's friend or foe."

Jabra, also in his Zoan hybrid form, made additions to what his partner said. "I've been a Zoan user for years, and let me confirm this: It doesn't look good for your friend. That chibi is using a lot of energy in this form. If he stays in this form for much longer, he'll die of exhaustion."

Franky gritted his teeth. The cyborg didn't want Chopper to die, as he thought the Straw Hats' dedication to save a friend was something too great for the world. "Anything I can do to save him?!", the blue-haired yelled at the human-wolf hybrid.

"Hmmm.", Jabra mused out loud, his hand below his chin. "The easiest way is submerging him in water, since Devil Fruit users are weak to it and go back to their normal states. And that's not a normal state."

Quickly, the shipwright raised his thumb and smiled. "Thanks!", he said to the CP9 agent, before using Coup de Vent on the tower to launch Chopper and himself into the river before the waterfall.

Kaku was furious, and after the splash came, the Giraffe man proceeded to yell at his partner. "Jabra you idiot, why did you tell Cutty Flam how to save that pirate?!"

"Nyeh!", Jabra spat at Kaku with an annoyed face. "I do anything I can to help a fellow Zoan!"

"What kind of reason is that?!", the square-nosed barked at the wolf.

"Do you not have any Zoan pride, you imbecile?", Jabra snarled, sticking out his tongue.

"I don't take pride in such insignificant things!", the giraffe ranted, his voice at its all-time highest volume. "Seriously, how many Zoans are even in the world? 20?!"

"Shut up, both of you!", Zoro shouted, eyes twitching. "You're annoying!"

Kaku rolled his eyes to the left, glancing at the green-haired. He wanted to propose Jabra to finish off their enemies before continuing their argument, but then, suddenly, his Den Den Mushi was ringing. He took off the earpiece, noticing the call was directed not only to his own phone, but to all of Enies Lobby's Den Den Mushis. "Who's there?"

"THANK GOD YOU'RE THERE, KAKU!", Spandam practically screamed from the other end. "I tried to contact Kalifa, Kumadori and Fukurou, none of them answered somehow. Listen, I might've fucked up a little."

The second strongest CP9 agent cringed inside. His boss always fucked up, something like that must've meant he royally fucked up. "What's the problem, boss?", the square-nosed asked, not dramatic at all.

"Well… I… I-i've triggered… I've accidently triggered the B-bu-buster Ca-call!", Spandam stammered full of embarrassment.

There Kaku almost lost his cool. "What the fuck, boss?!", he loudly yelled with an angry face. "How clumsy can you get?! This stunt of yours is getting all of Enies Lobby destroyed and all of us killed!...". After a few seconds, he slightly calmed down and wasn't breathing as hard anymore. "Plus, do you even realize everyone's hearing what you say now?!"

Meanwhile, on the stairs leading to the Bridge of Hesitation, a certain masked man's nose was running. "This is Strawhat Luffy by the way!"

"WHAT A DAMN TERRIBLE LIAR!", almost everyone in Enies Lobby screamed out in disbelief.

Robin, forcefully by Spandam's side, took the chance she had and spoke into the Den Den Mushi. "Everyone, please leave the island!", the Oharan warned. "Buster Call is aimed at Enies Lobby, there will be no survivors!"

One second later, Spandam unrightfully slapped her away, off her feet. "Don't say such unnecessary things! They wouldn't actually kill me, the leader of CP9, would they? Actually, it's good that I summoned the Buster Call, now we'll surely kill all the pirates.", he claimed. Then, a psychothic laugh left his mouth. "Wahahahahahahahaha, thereby I'll also get my promotion! Who cares if a thousand or so soldiers die to kill of some pesky pirates, Cipher Pol has always been an organization of sacrifice. I am simply better than those ordinary disposable soldiers!"

"You don't get it, do you?!", Robin called inside the Den Den Mushi again. "That attack doesn't involve any human emotion! The Buster Call'll burn down everything on Enies Lobby! People, buildings, even the island itself! You're only saying this cause you don't know what happened in Ohara 20 years ago!"

CP9's leader was really pissed off, just like the soldiers who'd all woken up from the hits they'd taken before. To him it sounded like all that woman wanted to do was take away the spotlight resting on him. "Shush now!", he snarled, pressing his gloved hand against her mouth. Following that he took the snail to himself again and directed his words to Kaku. "Kaku, kill the pirates while I step through the Gates of Justice before the warships arrive. Understand?"

Kaku reacted fast and immediately shut the phone. That man made him sick, it was visible as he clenched his teeth in hate. "Jabra, you've heard that swine, let's stop this madness already!"

Jabra, his colleague, stared at him in disbelief as the Giraffe man pulled out his key, the right key to Nico Robin's Kairoseki handcuffs, and handed it to the pirates, reassuring it was the right one. "Kaku, you fool! What are you doing?!"

"I'm merely doing what I feel is right.", the square-nosed responded. "I have codes and morals, this is just madness. I miss building ships on Water 7."

The Wolf man couldn't believe his ears, and looked at the deserter indifferently. "Fine, go your way, you wimp! I am not like you, though, I am a true fighter and warrior!", he loudly declared, pointing at himself. Next he looked at Sanji.

"I hope you're ready for my fastest and deadliest combo!", the Zoan announced. "Tekkai Kenpo: Roba no Kamae!"

On the rather small balcony, Jabra accelerated himself to speeds multiple times faster than lightning. He was so fast, he turned practically invisible. Little did he know the cook was even faster than him and kept track of every movement he made. "Rokaru Area Network Jusshigan!"

Combining those two attacks, Jabra made multiple afterimages of ten clawed fingers performing deadly stabs. The blond cook, however, used Soru to dodge the otherwise deadly attack with relative ease. The former's eyes widened as he realized the Vinsmoke trained his body to a level above him.

"Impressive, mutt.", the ero-cook fake-complimented. "You've made me use my new speed ability. Buuuut, playtime is over, we must save our Robin-chan now, who your dick of a boss treated unacceptably.". Then, subsequently, his eyes turned very serious. "I'd like to kick that guy to bits, but because he's not here right now, you'll be serving as his substitute."

Poor Jabra was on the verge of trying out a new combo attack, but he made contact with Sanji's foot before said wolf could even register the movement. "Shishinabe Shoot!"

Within seconds, a strong kind of force pushed Jabra through the entire Judicial Tower. His flight didn't stop there, though, it abruptly ended when his back collided with the Bridge of Hesitation. There he made a crater into the wall, which ultimately knocked him out, breaking a lot of bones. The shockwaves generated sent literal shudders down Spandam's spine. Robin herself was unaffected, due to being a lot tougher than mentioned man beside her.

…

Zoro, who noted the obvious lack of killing intent coming out of Kaku, picked up the key and slowly walked past the quiet CP9 agent. When they were standing back to back, the green-haired stopped. "I have one more thing to tell before I go.", he spoke, not looking at Kaku's face. "These are that Paulie-guy's words to you and your friends: You're fired."

"Tch.", the Zoan let out as the 60 Million Berry man walked away, bearing a fake smile. He knew he wouldn't get a second chance at Galley-La Company after what he and his accomplices did. "To another island then.", he barely mumbled to himself, determined. "I'm not a pirate, but adventures aren't forbidden."

That said, he felt good. Very soon he'd have already left Enies Lobby, quitting his job a few hours later, and beginning a new life.

…

Very early during their battle, Lucci switched to his human-leopard hybrid form, figuring he'd need to be in his strongest form to contend against Luffy. Even after the transformation, he wasn't on the winning side.

"Shigan: Madara!", CP9's strongest exclaimed, trying to stab the 17-year-old with his strong, clawed fingers. He was moving his paws faster than the human eye, he was so fast and his stance was so well, it didn't have any opening.

Still, for the future Pirate King it was an easy game. The 160 Million Berry man moved a lot faster than his opponent. So fast, he created openings on Lucci out of nowhere, and landed his punches on the Leopard man's torso, which should've been hard even to people stronger than Lucci. "Gomu Gomu no Gatling!"

"UARGH!", the mass murderer of the World Government screamed, being thrown into the wall behind. With an aching back, he stood up and pulled in the air with his sharp claws. That was one of his strongest techniques, one that could cut battleships like nothing. "Rankyaku: Gaichou!"

A large bird made of slicing air blades formed in front of Lucci, then being shot in the direction of the strawhat. Luffy reacted very quickly and jumped over the bird. Said bird collided with the tower's wall and sliced through it, reducing its height by 39%.

All the fighting damage done to the Judicial Tower had already been great, but Rob Lucci's special Rankyaku did by far the most damage. As the top of the tower slid off and eventually fell into the waterfall below Enies Lobby, CP9's strongest turned red out of fury. "Damn damn damn!", he angrily roared, rushing towards his enemy. "You pirates have caused us so much damage, all over a single woman! Why don't you just let justice prevail?!"

"Soru.", the black-haired calmly muttered. He disappeared out of Lucci's view for a very short time and appeared again, elbowing him in the nose. A certain bone was broken and blood gushed out of his nose. "Justice?", he repeated, eyes shadowed. "Actually, we will let justice prevail. Our own justice. Not that you understand it anyway."

Desperately attempting to stop his blood, the Zoan placed his palm below his nose. The blood of his still flowed through, because it was flowing along his wild, hard breath. "You're not a person with emotions.", the 17-year-old continued. "It's understandable you don't understand the bond between us nakama. We're almost like a family, and won't let one of us down, even if it means having the world as our enemy!"

"Fool!", Rob Lucci snapped. "Emotions and bonds are for weaklings, strength and bloodlust alone matters! I'm gonna follow that woman to the end of the world and capture her, destroying each and everyone associated with her in the name of Dark Justice! Enough of this, I'm gonna teach you a lesson, kid!". Next he placed his fists on top of each other and pointed them at the strawhat. "Look closely at this. Rokushiki users, by completely mastering the superhuman arts to the fullest, can unlock a seventh technique, one that's stronger than all others. I challenge you to continue fighting after this. Sai Dai Rin: Rokuogan!"

"Rokuogan!"

Two energy blasts came out of four hands. Lucci's large leopard fists and Luffy's fist, which were small in comparison. For a minimal amount of time, the energy waves clashed. Though evenly clashing at first, the one coming from the future Pirate King overpowered the one coming from the Cipher Pol agent. Unexpectedly, the Leopard man felt something wrong with his insides.

Immediately after the Rokuogan battle, CP9's strongest placed his hands on his abdomen in severe pain, coughing up blood. "Gahhh!", he cried out, almost kneeling down. Once again, he was breathing too hard for his own good. His heart pumped blood at rates that weren't healthy at all. "J-just w-what are yo-you?! Where did you learn Roku-rokuogan?"

The 160 Million Berry man, whose bounty would soon be raised, silently looked at his nearly defeated opponent at first. "You wouldn't understand anyway. Now move, I've got a nakama to save."

Prideful Rob Lucci was too prideful to let the rubber man go. "I'm not giving up!", he barked, sounding sickly. Though he wasn't sick, it would be good if he rested at a hospital for at least a few days. By standing in Luffy's way, his condition was merely destined to become worse.

Sighing, the black-haired stretched his arms back. He didn't wish to go that far, he could've ignored Lucci and went past him, but sometimes a bad guy really deserved a beating. "Gomu Gomu no Bazooka."

That hit harder than any actual Bazooka would. Invisible for Lucci's, CP9's strongest and fastest's eyes, the two palms of Luffy collided with the air a millimeter away from the Leopard man's stomach. The shockwave alone broke Lucci's ribcage and cracked his spine. Furthermore, the shockwave sent him flying out of the Judicial Tower, onto the Bridge of Hesitation where Spandam was dragging Robin. Spandam's eyes widened the moment he saw his strongest subordinate, a man that never lost before, crashing down in front of him and ripping away the stones of the ground while grinding on the bridge. It was over, that was what the purple-haired realized.

"H-how could you p-po-possibly l-lose, Lucci?!", Spandam stuttered, shaking. His insecurity was growing with every passing second. "I-I thought you were the strongest!"

Meanwhile, Robin smiled as sweet as honey cake. She figured that the man known as CP9's strongest must've fought her reliable captain. And now that this man was lying there, defeated, it only meant to her that her captain was safe.

"LEATHER-FAAAAAAAACE! I'LL KICK YOUR ASSSSSSSSS!"

A powerful scream came out of the Judicial Tower. The voice belonged to the one and only future Pirate King. While Spandam's eyes bulged out in fear, tears flowed out of Nico Robin's eyes in gratitude and love. 'Luffy, to go this far for me… I'll never ever leave you, you're the best person I've met.'

The strawhat's body was seen far away, jumping high in the air. Next he repelled the air away from his feet, shooting himself towards his taken nakama and her enemy at extremely high speeds. Spandam's face was badly hit once again by the 17-year-old. His fist collided with the upper left side of the Cipher Pol man's head, deforming it. The weak and pathetic man would need a mask for his entire head to hide the ugliness created by the rubber man's punch.

"Robin!", Luffy shouted out, standing next to her again. "We'll fight your enemies from now on, don't ever leave us again!"

"I won't.", the archaeologist reassured, looking at him with a grateful smile.

Just then, her other nakama and Franky arrived as well. They rushed through the door Zoro cut in pieces. "Sorry we're late!", the swordsman apologized. "Shitty cook wanted to do something in the control room."

"What I did is crucial for us, idiot!", Sanji snapped with sharp teeth. "And you can't possibly comprehend the mechanism behind it anyway!"

"What did you say?!", the green-haired furiously demanded, pointing Wado Ichimonji at his best friend and rival.

"Enough!", Nami roared, punching them both in the head, making the two drop on the floor with large bumps on their heads. "You imbeciles, Robin's cuffs aren't open yet! There's no time for petty bickering!"

She tossed the key for Robin's Kairoseki handcuffs to Usopp, who quickly got there and released the Oharan. Once open, the cuffs fell on the ground, or rather, on Spandam's face who released a weakened scream.

"Oh, I almost forgot about him.", Luffy spoke, frowning. "Do whatever you want to that jerk, Robin."

Silently, she bloomed hands to restrain and do things to him. He admitted to her that he was Spandine's son. The son of _the_ man who ruined her life. She was about to start the torture, but suddenly the Gates of Jutice opened.

As the mighty gate opened, 10 huge warships were seen coming through. On those 10 warships there were five Vice Admirals. Momonga, Onigumo, Doberman, Yamakaji and Strawberry. It looked like the gate of hell opened, with those ships going to destroy everything with their cannons.

Two cannonballs were fired at the bridge's fundamental pillars, but then the unimaginable happened. Only 8 warships and 3 Vice Admirals made it through the gate! While the first ships were passing through, the Gates of Justice closed, leaving Momonga's ship completely behind the gate and crushing everything on Yamakaji's ship.

"Fuck!", Momonga cursed from behind the gate, inside the Tarai Current. He'd have to write a long report on Yamakaji and his subordianate's deaths.

A similar curse came out of Doberman's mouth, who barely managed to pass through.

"I don't get it.", Usopp said, confused. "Why did the gates suddenly close? It doesn't make any sense to me."

"Haha!", the blond cook laughed out, lighting up a cigarette. "That's the reason I stopped by at the control room. I switched some levers and made the Gates of Justice close earlier than they were supposed to."

"Oooh, the Marines are gonna be so pissed!", Franky complimented, pointing his thumbs up.

"So we're gonna fight them?!", Luffy exclaimed in an excited tone. "Wait a minute guys, I'm gonna finish them!"

The black-haired wanted to immediately start destroying the warships, but his green-haired first mate stepped in front of him. "Please, Luffy, let me fight them.", the 60 Million Berry man requested in a respectful tone. "I have trained and meditated to the point I've developed two new techniques. One of them is fueled by our situation."

Armament haki formed around all of Zoro's swords. His captain made a proud smirk. "My will is flowing through my swords.", the 19-year-old told the 17-year-old. "Please let me handle the Marines."

Vinsmoke Sanji walked beside his friend. "I also have a new power, Luffy. It's time to show you we aren't dependant on your power alone."

'They're growing up so fast…', the strawhat thought jokingly, before turning serious. "Okay, I believe in you. Show them what you're made of!"

Meanwhile, the ruthless Vice Admiral Onigumo had enough of his subordinates talking about what happened to Vice Admiral Yamakaji and his men instead of firing at the pirates. "Stop mumbling around and fire, you maggots!", he growled.

Onigumo's men were too frightened of him to not obey his words. Quickly, they ran to their positions and started preparing the cannonballs. Once everything was ready, all ships bombarded the Straw Hats with one hundred cannonballs.

Reacting fast, Zoro and Sanji intercepted the cannonballs and either deflected or destroyed them in cool ways. Sanji stretched out each of his legs to the left and the right and caught 5 cannonballs each. Then he swung them both and reversed the cannonballs, severely damaging a ship without Vice Admiral. Zoro performed a powerful non-Asura technique that cut through tens of cannonballs with flying slashes. "Santoryu: Karasuma Gari!"

But he wasn't finished yet. "Santoryu: Hyoukindama!". The other cannonballs except for 10 were also cut open by the swordsman as he rotated himself like a screw towards a ship, severely damaging the side of said ship.

At the same time, Sanji who just deflected the remaining 10 cannonballs landed on the warship he nearly destroyed. "Bonjour shitty Marines, may I deliver you some whooping?". Unfortunately for him though, not a single Marine found that funny. "How insolent! Kill him!", a Lieutenant barked, telling the men entrusted to him on the ship to charge at the cook.

"Oh, that wasn't funny? You could've just said that.". Then the blond began spinning around, ignoring the weak Marines running towards him. Once he stopped spinning, he revealed glowing hot and flaming legs. "Diable Jambe: Premier Hachis!"

Every single Marine on that ship was kicked in the stomach with both legs. Except for the Vice Admirals on the other warships and his own nakama, no one saw how fast he moved, just how an invisible pirate with visible, burning legs kicked the shit out of an entire squad.

"Wooo! You rock, Sanji!", Chopper and Usopp cheered, throwing their hands in the air. Onigumo on the other hand didn't feel like cheering at all. "Men, sink that ship and the pirate!", he ordered gruffly.

Not much later the ruthless Vice Admiral's warship concentrated its cannonballs on the vessel with Sanji on it. The ex-prince escaped by using Sky Walk, but the Marines he knocked out weren't as lucky. "Whoa.", he let out. "Firing on their own comrades? What vicious bastards!"

Zoro felt the same, as the warship he was standing on got the same treatment. "There's something seriously wrong with those guys!", he ranted.

Back to Sanji, the blond shot himself at the next warship with his hot and flaming leg forward. Like a meteor, he struck the deck of the large vesssel, breaking it in half with a single footed strike.

Apparently his nakama liked this _very_ much, since all Usopp and Chopper were doing was cheering and applauding the cook's strength. They couldn't destroy a warship like that, and wanted to become stronger like him. Even Nami was impressed. "Go Sanji, kick the lights out of them for us!"

Hot steam came out of the ero-cook's ears, he was actually producing more steam than a steam engine of the late 19th century. As his eyes turned into hearts, the ex-prince responded romantic-delusional like always. "Nami-swaaaaan! I'd kick the lights out of the sun for you!", he shouted. "I'm on fire now, because of youuuuuu!"

Nami sweatdropped. "Sure, I believe it. Continue."

Over to Zoro, the green-haired faced Vice Admiral Strawberry. Both men stared at each other for about 6 seconds. Then the very tall Marine, which was mostly due to his hairstyle, pulled out his two swords and crossed it with the 60 Million Berry man's ones. "Roronoa Zoro,", he began with a monotone, bored voice, "you're worth 60 Million Berry and already have Armament haki? This calls for a raise."

The first mate of the Straw Hats almost laughed at that. "Thanks Marine, so you acknowledge my power? That's nice, but I'm not here to chat!"

Strawberry calmly pulled back his sword, trying to land a hit this time. Suddenly, he sensed something wrong coming out of his opponent with his haki. A powerful, strange, bloodlusted energy. Then it appeared, the demon Asura. Roronoa Zoro was projected into his eyes with three heads and six arms. The aura of his was extremely frightening, even for a Vice Admiral who can defend himself against powerful enemies. The enemy swordsman appeared extra frightening, since the Asura heads and sword afterimages were also clad in pitch black Armament haki.

"Sorry man, but I can't waste my time with you. Kiki Kyutoryu: Asura! ", the green-haired declared, emitting a thick silver mist from his body before executing his more than ultimate attack. "Asura: Ichibugin!"

For a split second, the mist turned dark as the night. Vice Admiral Strawberry never realized the 9 deep wounds with blood gushing out of them on his torso and arms, because he passed out immediately after the attack. The mist was black, his blood was red. He never saw past the black.

Following the fierce and mysterious technique, everyone who watched the extremely short fight was left with a gaping mouth in amazement, even Luffy. "Woah, Zoro!", he suddenly exclaimed with stars in his eyes. "That was sooo cool! How did you do that?!"

An equally impressed Marine, who just commited a crime by being impressed by a pirate, went as far as taking a very good-looking photo of the demon, before being kicked in the head by the Vinsmoke, who coincidentally was on the same warship. "Hate to admit, but that was badass."

Zoro turned around, smirking. "You're also worth something with your new legs, cook."

Just a second later though, Onigumo had to ruin the badass moment between the badass Straw Hats. "You useless worms, why didn't you shoot already?! We could've caught those idiot pirates off-guard!"

"We'll shoot them right away, Sir!", the second highest Marine officer on the ship called, sweating cold sweat out of fear. Some time later, the bunch of Marines pointlessly tried to shoot the ship. The warship was sunk, with that one being the fourth the Marines lost the day. But not just the ship was sunk to the bottom of the Grand Line, the Vice Admiral on it was dead as well.

Doberman couldn't believe his eyes. One of his long time partners was crushed by the Gates of Justice, another one was killed by the black sheep of the Vice Admirals, one of the most loyal slaves of Absolute Justice. The Marine with scars in his face was a believer of Absolute Justice as well, but a very mild version of it. He wouldn't sacrifice 1000 fellow Marines trying to take down merely two pirates. The way Onigumo acted made his blood boil. "Hey, Onigumo!", the middle-aged man angrily roared. "What the hell are you doing?! That was a Marine officer of your rank! It's gonna get you court-martialed!"

The other high-ranking Marine didn't care, and went on to be the berating one himself. "We have the right to sacrifice as many replaceable soldiers if it means to take down the pests known as pirates or revolutionaries!", the sinister Vice Admiral bellowed. "Don't forget that, Doberman! And even if I get court-martialed, Admiral Akainu is gonna take me out!"

Doberman was utterly furious at his partner, while glancing around. Just two pirates that weren't even captains made fools out of the Buster Call fleet that was supposed to be inescapable. And they weren't going to stop, since they were about to destroy another two warships. No good for the budget.

"Flambage Shot!", the leg fighter yelled, making short process out of a warship.

"Sanzen Sekai!", the first mate exclaimed, bifuricating another Marine vessel.

While watching, the Straw Hats almost laughed their asses off. Not long ago, some were about to cry, and none of them even thought of laughing. Now that the Marines, and therefore the World Government was receiving painful blows to their pride though, it was all different. Karma was a bitch, and having the World Government receive all damage done to them twice as hard in return was making them feel good. As simple as that.

Before Sanji or Zoro managed to get to another ship, his ship, Doberman did what a smart person would do and sped over to the ruthless Vice Admiral as fast as possible. Before the spider-like man could react, he had a blade at his neck. "Doberman…", Onigumo darkly spat full of venom. "What do you think you're doing? Have you completely lost your mind?"

Said Vice Admiral had dark, shadowed eyes and a menacing expression on his face. Doberman made sure to let Onigumo see it before he responded. "If you tell your men to shoot at my ship and kill my men, I'm chopping your head off."

Onigumo turned enraged. It was like betrayal to him. "Why are you pointing your sword at my neck instead of at the pirates' necks, you ingrate?!", he demanded. "Is it because you've grown too soft?!"

Noting that Onigumo mocked him, the scarred man shook his head in disgust. "It is because unlike you, I have subordinates that I CARE for. Have you ever heard of the word?"

The rather heartless Vice Admiral wanted to say something in return, but then the duo of cook and swordsman landed on his ship. Doberman was slightly thankful, having the opportunity to fight and arrest the two before they could harm his squad.

"Oi, Marimo! How do you call this opportunity?"

"Swatting two flies with one pat. Let's do it, dart brows!"

His leg still in flames, the Vinsmoke jabbed through the wooden deck, slowly setting the Marine ship on fire. Every Marine on the ship rushed towards the troublesome pirates in order to capture/kill them. Once the fire of the cook reached a certain point, the swordsman made his devastating move. "Santoryu: Tatsu Maki!"

Tatsu Maki was an attack that both cut and swirled. The winds created by his swords and the fire combined, leading to a deadly inferno breaking out on the ship. A tornado out of fire devastated the whole deck and seconds later the ship. All Marines were both badly burned and blown away, even the leading two.

"Bwargh!", Doberman let out, falling into the sea. His left arm's skin was incinerated and the limb hurt like hell. Unlike Vice Admiral Dalmatian, he didn't eat a Dog Zoan fruit, so he was safe. Gently grabbing his arm, he looked around. Despite being hit by a flaming tornado, the Marine was mostly fine. As Vice Admiral he had to be very tough after all. He even looked inside the sea. About 30 meters below him, Onigumo was sinking into the depths of the sea. The latter had eaten a Spider Zoan, which took away his ability to swim. The Vice Admiral with scarred face didn't even bother saving his soon-dead partner, because the disaster that happened to them was mostly his fault. "I swear, the Marines can be so stupid at times…", he growled in a quieter tone, his face becoming red out of disappointment.

Meanwhile, on top of the bridge where the remaining Straw Hats had been watching, Usopp sighted Going Merry and was overcome with joy. It was just a feeling, a simple feeling. His favourite ship made it to Enies Lobby in its battered state, a feat only the best of the best could accomplish. "Oiiiii! Guys, our other nakama is here! Look below, Merry is here! Finally we can return home!", the long-nosed loudly called, summoning a smile on his nakama's faces. Merry was just too much of a good ship and friend.

"That's so amazing!", Nami exclaimed on the spot, almost breaking out in tears. The bond between them and their secret nakama was most likely the best bond between ship and sailor.

Not everything was finished yet though, as the strawhat appeared in a flash beside his strongest two nakama, who were standing in the air in front of the final untouched Buster Call warship. "That's enough, Zoro, Sanji.", he said, placing his hands on their shoulders. "They can't possibly harm us anymore. Let them go so that they can just tell the Marines NOT to mess with us again."

The green-haired and blond traded looks with each other and then with Sharinguru, the highest-ranked officer on the last warship who was _so_ glad he was left alone.

Like a flash again, the rubber man disappeared out of everyone's eyes and reappeared on the bridge again. Even Zoro and Sanji thought he was too fast, since they both had to use Geppo to go from one place to another while their captain could just seemingly teleport.

On the Bridge of Hesitation, the spot where Luffy reappeared again was between his navigator and archaeologist. "Hey Luffy, what are we gonna do with this guy?", the ginger asked, referring to Spandam.

"Oh, this jerk.", the black-haired muttered, switching his gaze to the 79 Million Berry woman, who had to endure so much under the idiotic weakling otherwise known as Spandam. "Do whatever you want with him Robin, he's all yours."

Spandam could've sword Nico Robin looked demonic for a moment. Her eyes were colder than the ice of Admiral Aokiji. This cold, until she finished funishing him. The punishment? The 28-year-old bloomed four additional hands that grabbed his neck. Slowly, making the purple-haired feel the pain, she snapped his neck, and shortly after ripped off his deformed, now bulbous head off his shoulders in a short manner, which was very gruesome to watch.

Before the major punishment happened, the 17-year-old closed the eyes of his less powerful and more emotional nakama. About 2 Kilometers away, Sharinguru watched as 359 soldiers under his command couldn't hold their lunch anymore and barfed onto the deck or into the sea. The Marine Captain, whom the future Pirate King would've dubbed Sharingan or Sharingorilla in his former life, swore to himself to quit his job should he ever get the order to engage with this crew again.

Staring at the bloody corpse of the former boss of CP9 for the last time, Robin turned around towards her much beloved nakama. "I'm done here. Let's just get away from this place.", she pleaded, not desiring to stay in Enies Lobby any longer.

"Yosh!", the strawhat shouted, slamming his fist against his palm. "We don't need to be here any longer. Let's get back to Water 7!"

"Agreed.", the sniper added, slightly shaking with his legs. Going Merry was a small vessel, and the Bridge of Hesitation was pretty high above sea level. The fall wouldn't be very soft.

Everyone jumped down, with the sharpshooter being by far the last. They landed on Merry's deck, and Chopper immediately began to embrace it. "Merry! Merry! I love Merry so much!", he cried, spilling a lot of snot.

"I can't believe it…", Franky said in disbelief. "This ship was already at its end, and it managed to come here? Too amazing… who even steered it?"

Merry was steering with its heart. It loved the crew, just like the crew loved it in return. Robin was also loved by the crew. Standing up as the last Straw Hat to arise, the sun shone on her, and the wind gently let her hair flutter. The seventh Straw Hat looked like a goddess there. "Everyone", the beauty spoke up with a gentle, friendly voice, the words coming directly from the deepest of her heart, "thank you."

Her friends, to her heavenly and sacred people, smiled at her in return, reflecting all the love they have for each other. Such a simple and powerful scene, ruined by no one. Not even the warm-hearted Admiral watching from the background.

"So that's it?", he murmured, talking to no one. "I've never thought complete and utter defeat feels so good and right.". Kuzan then sighed, forming a very narrow smile with his lips. "Thank you Monkey D. Luffy, thank you for doing something I never would've been able to do."

With that, he rode off westwards, wishing the group of pirates good luck in their next adventures.

* * *

 **Phew, I am so done with this chapter! It took me way longer than originally calculated. First of all, I want to apologize that this chapter may seem like a lackluster. The thing is, the struggle wasn't real since the Straw Hats are so much stronger than CP9 in this story, and in the end there was no drama like in canon with all the warships following them because Zoro and Sanji destroyed most of them. Also, you must have questions about this chapter, so I'm gonna explain some things right now.**

 **1\. "What took you so long?" – Well, I was sick for two weeks. In one of them I had high fever of about 40 Degrees Celsius, so I had to stay in bed. The other reason is that I had to study very much. Right now my grades are crap and I need to get better. They're not extremely bad but I've gotten worse over the years. I'm going to a school where highly talented students go. I'm pretty sure I could do great at a normal school and get an above average job, but that's not enough for me. Some classmates of mine could easily be part of the management staff of an international company or high-ranking politicians. Hope you can understand why I can't write as much as I did before.**

 **2\. "What's with Jabra moving faster than lightning." – When I reread Skypiea, I noticed that Sanji could've easily dodged Enel's lightning blast but took it in order to save Nami and Usopp. For years I've thought Enel was the second fastest character in the series, but that turned out to be wrong. The Straw Hats are much faster than I thought and in this story they're way stronger than in Canon One Piece. I just wanted to emphasize how strong and fast the Straw Hats are right here.**

 **3\. "Why did you kill the Vice Admirals?" – Felt like it. Yamakaji and Strawberry are pretty irrelevant, and I hate Onigumo. Zoro and Sanji at this point in the story are as strong as Vice Admirals, if you don't count Garp of course.**

 **4\. "Why didn't you kill other CP9 members?" – I'm gonna explain their fates next chapter and I have good reasons for it. I killed Kalifa because I never liked her anyway and she's not even in my top 25 hottest One Piece girls list. Ask me about it if you want, I'll gladly list them for you. I also killed Kumadori because he was so annoying in the manga. I liked him a lot in the anime, he was my third favourite CP9 agent. In the manga he's my third least favourite. And Spandam… fuck him, he's my third most hated character in the entire series. Only the Celestial Dragons obviously and Hody Jones are worse in my opinion. He treated Robin, my favourite One Piece female like shit and didn't even die. Robin should've snapped his neck in Canon and not his spine. He even recovered from it after the timeskip. Hope those two meet again one day and Robin kills him for good.**

 **5\. "What's gonna happen next?" – Next chapter's going to be about Merry's funeral, the time the Straw Hats spend on Water 7 and some other things. It's gonna be similar to the Alabasta chapter after the battles, I can tell you that.**

 **By the way, I have a theory that Chopper trained Seimei Kikan or Life Return during the timeskip. Kumadori explained about it and he's the only Straw Hat who knows about this martial arts style, if that's what you can call it. It reminds me of Sage Mode from Naruto. It should make sense since Chopper can freely manipulate his body, like growing fur for Guard Point or enlarging his antlers for Horn Point. I'm going to have Chopper train Seimei Kikan from now on and make him really strong.**

 **That was it for today. Constructive criticism allowed. Rate and review if you want.**


	28. C28: 5 days at Galley-La

**Never again!**

 **Hello everyone, time for the chapter before Thriller Bark. A lot has happened on Enies Lobby, and the consequences for the Straw Hats aren't gonna be light. This might not be a battle-filled chapter but there are more interesting things to cover than in the similar chapter in Alabasta. Hope you like it!**

 **Answer to Meazm: Thanks a lot again buddy.**

 **Answer to Lightningblade49: Most Straw Hats are going to get a bounty boost, don't you worry about that.**

 **Answer to Chrisfragger: Luffy knocking out islands full of cannon fodder will happen. It's far away, but it will happen.**

 **Answer to Hektols: Really? I didn't know you needed to have freckles to be called a ginger, I always thought orange/red hair alone was enough. Should I still call Nami a ginger for variety of addressing?**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**

* * *

 **Chapter 28: 5 days at Galley-La**

The Going Merry was slowly drifting towards Water 7. Seagulls were screeching in the background, while the pirates were quiet, mostly to keep everything slow and steady after the events on Enies Lobby. A transmission from an utmost important life-saving mission with tons of adrenaline to usual life wasn't that easy after all.

Few minutes later, a galleon with large and wide sails was seen approaching. It was the flagship of Galley-La Company. Though the vessel was still far away, loud chants were heared by the Straw Hat Crew.

Iceburg himself was the most quiet on his ship, yet that didn't mean he wasn't the proudest. "What an outrageous bunch… they really managed to get everything back from the World Government.", he mused, smiling out of respect and acknowledgement.

"It's the guys from Galley-La!", Usopp shouted, excited to see them. He knew they'd help them.

And they did, considering seconds after the Merry literally broke in two. "Uaaaah!", the long-nosed screamed in surprise. "What's going on?! Merry all of a sudden-"

"This is not all of a sudden!", Sanji corrected him, standing up again after falling on the deck. "Franky already said Merry can't go on further, have you forgotten?"

"He's right, Usopp.", Luffy calmly yet decisively spoke up, his hat shadowing his eyes. "Really sorry to say this, but this is the absolute proof Merry can't go on further."

The smiper looked into everyone's face. His nakama all seemed to accept it. He wasn't going to throw a tantrum alone, so even he, the one who actively protested against getting a new ship, didn't say anything defying.

"We can provide your ship a deserving funeral.", Iceburg offered. "I'm seeing a miracle right here… any similar ship should've sunk several islands ago, but yours doesn't even sink where it's staying.". He then cleared his throat, proceeding to speak again. "Your ship is without a doubt one of the greatest pirate ships I've ever seen. It lived an admirable life… just let it rest in piece."

With stoic eyes, the black-haired made eye contact with each nakama again. The sadness was only slight, they didn't want to beat a dead horse any further. "I accept.", the 17-year-old said, before turning his head towards Franky and approaching him.

"What do you want, Strawhat?", the cyborg asked, confused. Realizing the strawhat wanted to whisper it in his ear, he slightly bowed over. The blue-haired listened to his future captain's words. It was a simple, meaningful wish.

"Okay, I understand.", the pervert mumbled, nodding in respect. Then he turned to Galley-La Company's galleon. "Oi, Galley-La! Get me a saw!"

"A saw?", one worker asked, not understanding what Franky wanted to do with it.

"Just give it to him.", Iceburg ordered. The boss of Galley-La knew he was a good man and had well intentions. Said worker immediately tossed the cyborg a saw.

"Yosh!", the blue-haired let out while catching the saw. He then switly jumped over the gap between Merry's first and second half, getting closer to the sheep figurehead.

The next thing he did shocked a few Straw Hats. The shipwright was sawing off Merry's head.

"Oi, stop it!", Chopper yelled, attempting to stop him. To him that seemed disrespectful, because it was like decapitating Merry.

Zoro reacted fast and grabbed the doctor. "Chopper, don't do it.", the green-haired warned him, not raising his voice. "I don't know what purpose that serves, but Luffy told him to do it. You have to trust Luffy's decisions."

Chopper pulled a little of his snot back as he saw Franky returning with Merry's wooden head. Seconds later Luffy also signalized it was time to leave the ship. Galley-La quickly let down two gondolas for the Straw Hats to stand on.

The larger gondola was behind the smaller gondola, which was right in front of Merry. Only the future Pirate King was standing on the smaller gondola. A burning torch was passed to the 160 Million Berry man. "The bottom of the sea is dark and lonely.", the rubber man mumbled, touching his dying ship with the torch, setting it aflame. "Sayonara Merry."

Piece by piece, the flames were spreading. Usopp watched everything. "So, what do you say to that?", Zoro asked the sharpshooter, who didn't cry. The marksman tried to make a smiling face. "When men amongst men part ways, there shouldn't be tears involved."

Back with Luffy, he put his arms into the water and started paddling back. "Thank you for carrying us all this time, Merry."

He didn't look back. It was the same. He managed to take better care of Merry than in his previous life, but it still only managed to last this long. And to make things worse, it started snowing. He would soon cry, but he didn't want to cry because it made him feel guilty.

Memories of their journey filled the Straw Hats' heads. Seeing a nakama die was damn painful, they were expieriencing it first-hand.

"I'm sorry…", Merry spoke up for the first time. "I wanted to carry you just a little bit further…"

"Merry?!", the reindeer exclaimed, snot dripping from his nose. It sounded like a living person was speaking, just to make matters worse.

"I wanted to go on more adventures with you… But I…"

And Usopp couldn't hold it anymore. His shirt turned wet and salty.

"We're the ones who should apologize!", Luffy shouted uncomfortably. "I tried to treat you the best I could, but I failed! I failed to stop that jerk from breaking your keel! The others were also harsh to you without realizing! If we were truly good to you, you would've carried us one, two islands further!"

"But I was happy despite everything.", Merry finished.

Nami was now crying too.

"I was… really… happy…"

Then the flares took over the entire pirate ship, intensifying the orange glow. Three of his nakamas were already crying, and now it was his turn. The strawhat's eyes leaked a certain salty fluid, and his vocal cords were preparing for a scream. "MERRRRRYYYYYYYY!"

Even though he had been loud, the future Pirate King was as mute as a stone on his way back to Water 7. The sadness made him tired… and hungry, what a surprise!

…

One day later:

Sleeping and eating were those two things that could effectively make Luffy forget things. Merry's death was quickly forgotten. For the rubber man himself that didn't matter, because first and foremost he was a man of happiness, and secondly, he was enjoying a roast beef while slumbering.

Chimney, her pet and her grandma found this very impressive.

Meanwhile, the other Straw Hats were either shopping or staying by their captain's side. Just like Sanji, who spent the whole day cooking. The entirety of food the 160 Million Berry man was eating could've fed all citizens of Water 7 for 2 days. And Robin, as kind as she was, handed all the food Sanji cooked directly to Luffy on a silver platter, playing waitress.

Overall, it was a chill morning. Being together with each other made the negative feelings on Enies Lobby go away. But when something is too peaceful, there will always be something that balances it with a little chaos.

Monkey D. Garp was a good man, the hero of the Marines. Despite that, he was a man of chaos, loud chaos that is. That morning he arrived at Water 7 with his personal ship, bringing his two protégées he picked up in East Blue along. Once he was standing in front of Galley-La company's building set up for the Straw Hats, he grinned and punched a hole into the solid brick wall. All attempts of the Galley-La workers trying to tell the tall and muscular old man the Straw Hat Pirates were elsewhere had been completely futile.

Due to the fact that ignoring the crashing sound of the breaking wall sheer impossible, the Straw Hats rapidly turned around, a shocked expression on their face. Before eyeing Luffy's grandfather they already guessed it was an enemy attack, but that man seemed like he was on a whole other level. "You… are the Straw Hat Crew, aren't you?", Garp asked, still smirking.

"Marines!", Chopper, Nami, Usopp and Sanji shouted out, getting in their respective battle stances. Though they knew they wouldn't stand a chance, none of them thought about doing nothing.

Suddenly, Luffy's sleep bubble on his nose popped. The black-haired had detected his grandpa before the latter even left his ship. Opening his eyes, the 17-year-old yawned and rubbed his forehead. "Why are you here, gramps?", he asked, not sounding impressed at all.

"Gramps?!", the Straw Hats repeated surprised, not expecting the legendary 'Garp the fist' to be their captain's granddad. Though, it perfectly explained them where he got his strength from.

Garp didn't like the casual tone and his mood changed to a little more strict. "Is this how you speak to your own grandfather, Luffy?!", he called, trying to punch some 'love' into his beloved grandson. His infamous fist said to break steel like nothing crushed the table Luffy was eating from and the chair Luffy was sitting on.

After the dust cleared, and his fist was doused with soy sauce, he was about to tell the strawhat nobody could dodge the Fist of Love. To his surprise, his fearsome attack never connected. "Whaaaat?!"

" ***munch* *munch*** Watch what you're hitting gramps, you almost destroyed my soy pretzels!", the future Pirate King complained from behind.

The Marine Hero turned around, a little bit of snot hanging from his left nostril. "You… you dodged the Fist of Love, Luffy!", the grey-haired man unexpectedly exclaimed full of pride, praising his grandchild's power. "You're amazing, Luffy, I'm really proud of you…". After 5 seconds of silence, his eyes changed into an angry expression. "But I wanted you to become a strong MARINE, not a despicable PIRATE!"

"I was always gonna be a pirate, stupid gramps!", the 160 Million Berry man retorted, the volume of his voice on the same level as his grandfather's voice.

"That's just because of that damn Red-Haired's dirty influence!"

"Don't talk about Shanks like that as if you're on the same level as him!"

While the strong Monkey D.'s grabbed each other's collars, the Straw Hats sweatdropped, because what they thought to be a dangerous attack turned out to be a light family argument.

And just as Garp was about to teach his grandson a lesson for the latest remark, he fell asleep while standing. The rubber man merely rolled his eyes. "Stupid gramps, you're like Ace now."

*Sweatdropping intensifies*

Shortly after, Garp's sleep bubble popped, telling the bystanders he woke up. "Ohh, crap! I fell asleep!", he realized, then putting up a sheepish smile. Following that, the old man remembered he wanted to punish his rebellious grandchild, consequently pulling his fists back, releasing Luffy from his grip.

What Luffy was attacked with was not one Fist of Love but multiple Fists of Love. The Marine Hero's attack could be compared with a meteor shower but the black-haired kept dodging them all. His Observation haki was trained to the point he could dodge anything on instinct. Eventually, his grandpa decided to put an end to this useless attempt of 'training' his grandchild, accepting the fact that Luffy was strong enough to defend himself against him. Power-wise, the old Marine thought he hadn't done anything wrong with his training. Little did he know the 17-year-old's power didn't come from his training.

"Anyways, do you even know who Red-Haired is, Luffy?", Garp asked, intending to educate Luffy about the Yonko.

"A Yonko, yes.", the strawhat answered, not caring much. He loved his grandfather but he wasn't really interested in learning things from him. After receiving knowledge from his old self he realized that Garp wasn't exactly a man who should be teacher.

"Oh?", the Marine Hero let out, impressed his grandson actually knew about things. 'Maybe Luffy won't get killed from stupidity after all.'

Meanwhile, outside of the building, Zoro came across a blond man with a black visor. The green-haired recently beat up two kids named Michael and Hoichael for attempting to mug him while he was returning to his nakama after he heard Marines had appeared. Now it was the Marine's turn for trying to challenge him.

Before he, the new Helmeppo after Garp's training could do much, he was already pinned down by the Straw Hat first mate. "Kukri-knives? You have some rare stuff, too bad they're wasted on you."

From inside the building, the grey-haired old man noticed his student's failure and started laughing. "Hahaha! Luffy, it seems like one of your old friends I brought with me failed. You there!", he ordered, pointing at Coby who stood in the shadows. He didn't call his stronger protégé by his name in order to surprise Luffy. "Try to take down Strawhat Luffy!"

"Okay!", taller Coby responded, a determined look on his face. The pink-haired trained painfully hard under the old Vice Admiral, and he was going to show the future Pirate King how strong he had become. "Soru!"

Too bad for Coby, despite his enormous growth in power, he was no match for the rubber man, who stopped him mid-air and pinned him down using only one hand.

"Guagh!", escaped Coby's mouth, prompting his mentor to laugh out loud. "Bwahahahaha! They're no match after all, bwahahahaha!"

Overwhelmed, Coby began speaking again. "You… you are still so strong… Amazing, I give up!"

The 160 Million Berry man released his friend, who stood up again and wiped dust off his clothes. "Luffy-san, Zoro-san, long time no see.", the Marine Chief Petty Officer said. "Do you still know who I am?"

"Shishishi!", Luffy laughed, rubbing the back of his head. "How could I forget the former biggest pink-haired crybaby, you've almost becom a man!"

Right there Coby blushed, his cheeks turning red. "Eheheheh, do you really think so?"

"Yeah, you and that egghead who lived from his jerk dad's rank."

Hearing that, Zoro had to raise his brow in surprise. "Wait a minute, are you telling me that guy is the spoiled daddy's son?", he asked, then turning his head again. "You've changed for the better, I guess…". Though after saying that, the green-haired didn't care anymore and went away, which left the black-haired and pink-haired alone to talk.

…

The friends seperated by the sides of law discussed a lot of things, including their goals. "Do you still wanna be Pirate King?", Coby asked, expecting the following answer.

"Of course, I haven't changed my mind one bit."

Following this the Marine looked on the floor, circulating his index fingers. "Do you…", he began, stopping in the middle of his sentence. "Do you think I can become an Admiral?"

"Sure!", the 17-year-old answered, confident in his friend's future. "You survived my gramps' training just fine, I bet you'll become even greater than the current Admirals. All you gotta do is training and not stopping to believe you can achieve this."

Coby lifted his head, fixing his eyes on the strawhat, laughing slightly ashamed. "Heheh, you had more confidence in me than I had before, hehe. We're gonna meet someday again, but in the New World. Be strong, Luffy, because I'm gonna be much stronger and hoping to defeat you!"

Chief Petty Officer Coby didn't notice his teacher standing behind him. "Huh?", Garp spat, teasing his prodigy of a student. "You wanna battle my grandson in the New World? Only if you surpass me, kid, I'm gonna start training myself again because old age is catching up to me. My outrageous little grandson dodged all my Fists of Love! Unless you can dodge all of them too, you're gonna stay behind and not get in my way!"

After finishing that, he stared at the future Pirate King, smiling widely in his own way. "I'm not gonna arrest you or your friends because you're my grandson, but should I get the order I'm sending all of you to the bottom of the sea.". Both Monkey D.'s nodded, with the older one turning around. "Take care, Luf-". Then suddenly the Vice Admiral realized he forgot something very important. "Ah, Luffy, I forgot to tell you. Do you know who your father is?"

"Dragon.", the 160 Million Berry man nonchalantly replied.

"Eeeh?! You already know?!", the Marine Hero comically exclaimed, his eyes widened by surprise.

"Yeah.", the rubber man confirmed. "I met him in Loguetown. He was okay."

"Okay?!", Garp repeated, pressing his hands agains the sides of his head. "Do you know what kind of man he is and what he does?!"

Luffy nodded again. "Yes and I don't care. He's him, not me. He can do whatever he wants with his Revolutionary Army, it's not like he's interfering in my life."

Previously Coby took that with Dragon as a joke. Luffy wasn't the most intelligent person on this planet, so he thought he meant an actual dragon, which wouldn't make any sense. But Dragon the Revolutionary, the most wanted man in the world, father of the friendliest pirate he's ever met? "Whaaaat?! The Revolutionary leader is actually your father?!"

Garp comically whacked his protégé's back. "Obviously I meant Monkey D. Dragon, does Luffy look like a reptile with wings?"

Once the comical moments ended, a certain grandson and his grandfather bid farewell. "Goodbye gramps, say hi to Ace and Sabo if you see them!"

"Bye Luffy, don't get into too much trouble!"

Coby also said goodbye, although in a more subtle way. The black-haired watched them go further and further away from him.

…

Later the evening, the Straw Hats gathered around the table to ask the strawhat about his encounter with his granddad. "Hey,", Nami started, peeling a tangerine, "how did the encounter with your grandpa go?"

"Meh", the 17-year-old mumbled, shrugging. "Okay, like always."

Their captain clearly sounded bored there, so the reindeer went on to ask why. "Oi Luffy, why are you bored?"

Lifting his head, the 160 Million Berry man looked directly at his doctor. "Well, I no longer fear my gramps, so I don't have to talk scared or agitated anymore.", he told, scratching the spot below his right eye. "When I was a kid, he wanted me to become a strong Marine, so he left me in the jungle, threw me into a bottomless pit and tossed me out of a plane so I can survive pretty much anything."

Immediately after learning about the future Pirate King's early 'survival training', the entire crew save for Zoro made an extremely shocked face, a dark blue aura resembling fear surrounding their heads. Their body hair was shaking as if a lightning bolt hit them "WAS HE TRYING TO KILL YOU?!", all except Zoro and Robin screamed out.

"Probably not, but who knows?", the rubber man casually spoke, switching the topic. "He also told me who my dad is. I already knew though."

"Aaaaand, who is it?", Usopp asked, thinking the father of Luffy must be a great man.

"Dragon.", Luffy stated, blinking shortly afterwards. That was his reaction to his nakama going dead quiet.

Dragon. While Chopper thought of a huge fire-breathing reptile with wings, Robin thought of Monkey D. Dragon the Revolutionary.

"Luffy… do you mean Monkey D. Dragon, the leader of the Revolutionary Army?", the Oharan inquired, sweating. Her captain might actually be the most wanted man's son.

"Yes,", the black-haired confirmed, staring at her, "that's my dad."

Then everyone except Zoro went "EEEEEEEEEEEEEH?!"

"S-s-such a man is really your father?", the navigator stammered, visibly wetting her shirt with sweat.

"Even us from Drum Island know him!", the doctor exclaimed, eyes widened while snot was comically dripping from his nose.

"Who's that?", the swordsman asked, gulping down some sake. He didn't know someone called Monkey D. Dragon, he only knew swordsmen with high bounties, like Dracule Mihawk or Shanks.

As if the surprise delivered by Luffy wasn't enough, the lack of pretty much common knowledge by the green-haired made all heads turn towards him. "Are you an idiot, Zoro?!", the sniper shouted in a comical way.

"Like he said!", Sanji added, holding his hand up as if he was going to slap him.

Of course Luffy understood the ruckus, his father was known by anyone who paid attention. But he didn't like his nakama getting scared or overly amazed by that. "Guys, he's my dad, not me.", the 17-year-old clarified, getting all attention back. "It's his life and his actions are his, I'm not special or deserve extra attention 'cause I'm his son. Stop acting like that please… and wait a second, did you just call me Luffy instead of Captain-san, Robin?!"

Though the last part was rather a realization accompanied by happiness instead of anger, the other Straw Hats were just as surprised. Eyes were focused on the archaeologist. "Fufufu, I see you've noticed.", the 28-year-old spoke, sweetly smiling in the beginning. "I am a lot closer to all of you now, I don't think I need honorifics anymore. Friends like you are people I can call by their names."

Pink hearts appeared inside the chef's eyes. "Woooooh, Robin-chwan! Let's celebrate your closeness to us!", he cheered, attempting to hug her.

The blond was a chair length away from the 79 Million Berry woman when the strawhat indirectly told him to stay away. Jealousy wasn't the reason for that, though.

"Sanji! If you wanna celebrate, there must be food! Go make us some!", the future Pirate King ordered, slamming his fist on the table.

Innerly crying, in a funnier way, the Vinsmoke stopped mid-air and turned around. 'I'll get you back for this, shitty captain!', he swore, not realizing the rubber man wasn't jealous.

For the rest of that day, the lights of their temporary base didn't go out, making everyone staring at the building from their windows wonder what kind of fun the pirates were having. An unsettling atmosphere was simply not there.

…

One day later, at 12 pm, the rubber man picked up a letter from the mailbox. He had finished eating his extra large breakfast, which wasn't uncommon at all, seconds ago. The 160 Million Berry man turned it around, revealing the name of the sender.

Gently, not trying to rip the letter apart, he ripped the very top of the envelope, then pulling the envelope apart, letting the letter fall into his hands opened.

 _Dear Mr. 'Strawhat' Luffy_

 _I'd like to meet you in my office at 2 pm today to discuss important matters with you. I hope you have time._

 _Signed, Iceburg_

'Oh, I wonder what Ice-san wants.', Luffy thought, then leaving the building. He was supposed to meet him two hours later but he chose to leave early. The black-haired would take a detour, visiting some bakeries and restaurants first. 'Ice-san… I think I'm getting myself an ice cream sandwich!'

…

"Hi, Ice-san!", the 17-year-old greeted the mayor 2 hours later, leaving the man's door behind.

Iceburg was just sitting relaxed on his office chair, bearing no expression on his face. "Sit down, please.", he said, gesturing at the seat on the other side of his light brown-colored table.

As the strawhat sat down, the expert shipwright coughed a little, clearing his throat. "Now, I have called you over for two things.", the blue-haired man informed. "First one is more about the World Government and not you. They've done bad things to me and my close ones in the past, and recently did it again. I've had enough of them, so Water 7 is no longer in their hands.". Upon finishing his sentence, Iceburg lowered his gaze and stopped talking for 4 seconds. "I've realized they don't care about us at all… The next part is a little hard to explain, how do I put it?". Now the mayor laid his hand on his forehead, not to show the redness of his skin. His forehead was read because he thought the next thing he was going to say was awkward and kinda weird. "I barely know you, but I trust you… it sounds weird, but I think I can fully trust you for what you did.". Inside of his head, the blue-haired was already dying out of embarrassment. His skin couldn't hold it any longer and turned completely red. "Would you… would you accept my request to make Water 7 part of your territory?"

That was it, Iceburg just turned from the most collected man in the world to the personification of embarrassment. He thought a mayor of a major city asking a pirate that wasn't even a Yonko to accept his city as part of his territory was a shameful person, even if it was a special pirate.

The 160 Million Berry man retained his ability to feel other people's emotions from his former life. "Hey now, don't be ashamed.", the future Pirate King reacted, meaning well. "At least you had the guts to ask. I accept by the way, I'd like to make sure no Cipher Pol bastards go undercover here again."

"I'm relieved about that, thank you Strawhat.", the expert shipwright told, wiping sweat off his normalizing face before going back to his original personality, but a little more gentle and sentimental. "As for the second thing, I'd like to inform you about something. Many years ago, my old friend Franky who was with you during the Enies Lobby incident lost his mentor and father figure, the same person as me. It all happened do to a mistake he made and an evil entity taking advantage of hit. Tom-san surely forgave him, I forgave him, but he can't forgive himself. Listen Strawhat, I have a request, take Franky with you please! He needs to forgive himself already and find true happiness with a dream. Take him along and use violence if necessary, I still see him as some kind of brother."

Even before the blue-haired said his words, the rubber man knew them thanks to his haki. A wide smile formed on his face. "Shishishi, you don't turn embarrassed anymore.", he noted.

"I don't make the same mistake twice.", Iceburg spoke, slightly smirking himself. "I just had to ask you for this favor."

"I planned to take him with me anyway, you're welcome."

Water 7's mayor's smile turned into a full grin as he got back up on his feet. Luffy imitated that movement and shook the hand of Iceburg. "Thanks!"

After that powerful agreement, the black-haired turned around, waving goodbye, leaving a content mayor behind. For the latter this day was a successful one.

…

Fast forward a few hours, a huge party was thrown by the Straw Hats at their pool. Franky Family, Galley-La Company, Oimo and Kashi, Kokoro, Chimney and Gonbe were invited. Sanji was at the grill, barbecueing meat. He had also made a huge cake before, making the guests drool water.

"Sanji, when's meat ready?", the 17-year-old asked, his stomach making hungry sounds.

Turning his head, the cook smirked at him. "Mizu-Mizu meat, skewered and extra tasty. Come and get to taste it."

Behind the strawhat there was a row, a very long row. The giants were behind Usopp, the last Straw Hat in the row. Only the girls were not in the row. Paulie, the last in the row entirely, glanced at the pool and saw Nami sitting on the edge with a drink. He started blushing and blocked his nostrils with his left hand – just to be sure. "Gyaaaaah, you shameless girl!", he called, trying to blame others for his pervyness. "It's a swimming pool here.", she defended, secretly thinking of the Galley-La foreman as a pervert.

Zoro watched as Chopper was making a sweet face of tastiness, and Usopp behind him standing on four stacked tables, posing and acting friendly with Oimo and Kashi, chatting about Elbaf. He himself wasn't going to party that much, just train and spectate, occasionally maybe get something to eat and drink… and party. Training alone when everyone is having fun is stupid, and he still had three days, so why not enjoy some of the day?

Finally there was Robin, leaning onto a wall, a glass of red burgundy in her hand. She was watching the party, thinking how great and enjoyable it was for everyone. The Oharan was about to join the rest, but suddenly felt cold, even on a literal level.

"Listen as I speak, Nico Robin.", a tall man behind the same wall spoke, sending chills down the archaeologist's spine.

"Wha…", she let out, her heart beating fast. His aura was very fearsome. "Aokiji?"

"Why didn't you just stay with them?", the Admiral asked. "They could've beat CP9 easily right there."

"It was to protect them from the likes of you. Beating CP9 right there would only get them more attention, which doesn't matter now because we already did."

Kuzan accepted his answer and nodded, before uneasily switching the topic. That one was heavy for him, no matter how strong he was, this topic would never be a light one. "The giant who fought for Ohara 20 years ago, Jaguar D. Saul, we were really good friends…"

The 28-year-old's eyes widened upon hearing that name, it was heavier than all Poneglyphs combined.

"It's my duty to observe what you do with your life, because I respected his will and let you get away from that island.", the Ice man continued, his arms crossed. "I decided I could no longer leave a ticking time bomb roam free, one who hasn't found a place for herself and is still wandering around even after 20 years. Most of all, I thought you just wanted to die…"

Aokiji's eyes then narrowed intensely. "I intended to put everything about Ohara to an end this time, but that doesn't seem needed right now. Tell me… have you found a place for yourself?"

Time seemed to stop and everything else seemed to bleach up for a second. Flashbacks of her own happiness inside the crew and the incident on Enies Lobby came to her mind. "Yes.", the 79 Million Berry woman answered, wanting to continue life. She hoped he'd leave her alone after this.

Though not visible to her, the Admiral smiled to that response, happy the girl from back then had finally found a new home. "Whether or not Saul's decision to let you live was correct, are you going to show me the answer?"

"I intend to.", Robin announced, still stressed due to his present. At least she wasn't breathing heavily anymore.

Kuzan stopped leaning on the wall and started walking away. "Then live your life to the fullest. Ohara hasn't fallen yet!", he spoke, not turning back. She had shown that it wasn't a mistake.

Soon after, before the Oharan could see him in person, he vanished in thin air, ice clouds coming from the spot he disappeared from. She wanted to see him, talk to him in deeper context, but she wasn't fast enough. That didn't make the archaeologist sad, though, her nakama were still there.

Meanwhile, Luffy sighed out of relief. He refrained himself from hearing the words of their conversation, it was private stuff after all. All he did was sensing emotions with his Observation haki. The future Pirate King was pleased about the tendency and result of the conversation, just two good people talking. Nothing to worry about for him. After this he smiled and silently stepped to the barbecue again, preparing to eat another huge portion.

…

Meanwhile, thousands of kilometers away at Marine HQ, bounty commission:

"Alright, who's next?", a blond Marine officer asked, looking at his colleague. That colleague was a brown-haired man of similar age drinking coffee. "Straw Hat Pirates, it's gonna be a huge raise."

The blond officer raised his brow. "Why's that?"

His partner quickly placed his coffee cup on the table and stood up from his chair. "Are you living under a rock?!", he snapped, finding it unbelievable he hadn't heard of the Enies Lobby events. "They invaded Enies Lobby and wreaked havoc, taking out CP fucking 9 and leading to the deaths of 3 Vice Admirals! They embarrassed the Marines, Cipher Pol and the World Government combined! Literally everyone has heard of it!"

"Really?!", the uninformed officer yelled, grabbing his head out of surprise.

"Just go outside and ask anyone.", the brown-haired said.

His co-worker wasn't doubting a single word anymore. "And what happened to CP9?"

"Chief Spandam, Kalifa and Kumadori are dead, gone. Kaku, Blueno and Rob Lucci left, and they haven't contacted the World Government yet and most likely never will. At least they won't turn into pirates. Fukurou was sent to a mental institution for trauma victims. He repeatedly claims even now that it was the pet of the Straw Hats that beat him up. As if that tanuki could grow as tall as a building and kill two trained Cipher Pol agents himelf. Only Jabra is still there, but I've heard he's gonna be demoted."

It took 40 seconds for the other Marine to process this information. It sounded too surreal, but it was supposed to be true. "Uhhhhh, and how high shall the new bounties of the Straw Hats be?", he inquired, reversing his Marine cap.

"You know what, just let me handle this.", the brown-haired Marine replied, spilling the rest of his coffee in the sink because it got cold. "I think I have the perfect sum for this lot."

With that, he sat on his chair with new coffee and designed new bounty posters. While choosing the photos, he inwardly acknowledged the crew of adventurous pirates to be quite fearsome.

…

It was the third day on Water 7, the Straw Hats were just finishing breakfast. "Sanji! Can I have more pancakes and meat?", the rubber man asked, shoving two forks with 20 pancakes each into his mouth.

"What's with your combination of pancakes and meat?!", Sanji demanded with sharp teeth, bewildered by his captain's strange combinations of food.

"Yum!", Nami let out, eating the last piece of her tangerine tarte. "The mixed tangerine cream was especially good today, Sanji."

"Aaaaah, really, Nami-swan?!", the cook cooed, spinning around while flipping pancakes. "I'll never stop cooking for you!"

The navigator stepped towards the door, opening it and finding a newspaper. "Guys, our new bounties might be inside.", she said, turning her head at the table where most nakama were sitting. "Should I wait for you to finish or can I open it now?"

"It'd be better if we all look at it at the same time.", Usopp spoke, cutting a boiled egg in half with his knife. "So can you wait 5 minutes?"

"Of course. Take your time."

…

5 minutes later:

"Are you ready?", the orange-haired asked, about to open the page with bounty posters. "I'm opening it now."

As Nami opened the page, 12 bounty posters flew onto the floor. Three of them were new bounties of people they didn't know. One of them was the bouny update of Trafalgar Law, and the others were bounty posters of the Straw Hats + Franky.

"Oooooh, look at this!", the long-nosed shouted out wide-eyed, staring at his badass smirking face on his bounty poster. His ephitet was 'Sniper King'. **Wanted: Dead or Alive: Usopp, 30.000.000 Berry**

Nami wasn't too fond of her bounty, as that meant she'd be hunted from there on. She bent forward, a dark blue cloud of depression engulfing her head. "But… but I'm too cute to be hunted…". Her ephitet was 'Cat Burglar'. **Wanted: Dead or Alive: Nami, 16.000.000 Berry**

"WHAAAAAAAAT?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!", Chopper screamed in disbelief, before becoming comically sad. "I'm still a pirate, right, Luffy?". His ephitet was 'Tanuki'. **Wanted: Dead or Alive: Chopper, 5.000 Berry**

"Shishishi!", Luffy giggled, before giving his doctor a comforting look. "At least your bounty isn't 50 Berries."

"50…", the reindeer muttered out like venom. If his bounty was 50 Berries instead, he would've sworn to beat certain officers up.

Vinsmoke Sanji, whose full name wasn't revealed, had a moderately high bounty. A bounty that was _very_ impressive for a first bounty. The only problem – his picture. His face going blue, the blond nearly dropped on the floor out of misery. "This can't be happening…", he cursed with a low voice. Contrary to his image, a bad hand-drawn picture, the ephitet on the boster was quite cool, 'Flame Leg'. **Wanted: Dead or Alive: Sanji, 154.000.000 Berry**

"That looks exactly like you.", Zoro teased, regretting it after the ex-prince insulted him in a strange language. Robin could've sworn parts of it were the language of the Ancient Kingdom that's found on Poneglyphs.

The archaeologist looked at her new bounty poster. The picture was no longer that of the 8-year-old girl, which made her feel much better. No ephitet changes. **Wanted: Dead or Alive: Nico Robin, 289.000.000 Berry**

When the cowardly trio looked at their swordsman's picture, they nearly suffered a heart attack. It was terrifying, three heads with swords in their mouth, everything covered in Armament haki. Even the background was black, which made the green-haired look like a complete demon. Apparently, the bounty officer thought that as well, hence his simple but menacing new ephitet, 'Demon'. **Wanted: Dead or Alive: Roronoa Zoro, 320.000.000 Berry**

"Sugoi, Zoro! Your picture looks even cooler than mine!", the black-haired called in awe, acknowledging his first mate's bounty as the coolest, even though his bounty was even higher. No ephitet changes. **Wanted: Dead or Alive: Monkey D. Luffy, 360.000.000 Berry**

Exchanging glances, the navigator, the sniper and the doctor whispered something simultaneously, "Are you frickin' kidding me?"

For them, and the first half of the Grand Line, that was a super high bounty. They didn't know yet, that the New World had bounties triple that sum and more.

"Fufufu.", the Oharan giggled, interrupting the bounty discussions. "Luffy has an interview in two hours. We have to start dressing up."

Everyone was surprised about that due to the fact this came out of nowhere. "Eh, really? Nobody's ever said anything about it."

"Water 7's central news agency called in the morning, I received the call because I wake up earlier than you.", the 28-year-old informed her nakama. "Knowing Luffy, he'd have accepted anyway, so I told them they can hold their interview today. It's also going to be broadcasted around the world."

"Is that so?", the 17-year-old spoke, grinning with selfish intent, approaching the closet to get his suit. "I just know what exactly to tell."

Right at that moment, the World Government couldn't imagine what consequences the strawhat's interview would have. Top-secret information was about to be spilled.

…

Less people visited Monkey D. Luffy's interview compared to Alabasta. However, it was more crowded since less people lived in Water 7. People living at the street where Luffy's public interview took place were forced to let some people use their balconies to fight overcrowding.

Unlike the Alabastan interviewer who was just a simple man, this interviewer wore a cowboy outfit. "Howdy, Strawhat!", he exclaimed, sliding over a table onto his chair. The man briefly glanced at his sheet of paper, a stalk of straw at the corner of his mouth. "Strawhat-san, yer bounties've increased a ton. Whaddya sayin' 'bout this?"

"I don't really care, I'm not someone who loves to brag and intimidate other people with their bounties, neither is my crew.", the strawhat explained, causing the interviewer to enjoy himself more.

"Ahh, truly a honest pirate like you and folks claim.", the cowboy-like man spoke, waving his hands from left to right like a rainbow. "Then why'd ya lay waste to Enies Lobby, hah?"

The future Pirate King chuckled, thinking the interviewer was enjoying himself way more than necessary. "Heh, you want the reason why?", the 360 Million Berry man began, making the crowd grow silent by stopping for over 9 seconds. "We went to Enies Lobby and demolished the World Government's pride and forces… simply because they pissed us off."

Everyone went silent for a moment. Hands went down, smiles disappeared, and the interviewer's straw stalk dropped out of his mouth. "EEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHH?! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!", the entire crowd yelled out in disbelief, the cowboy mimicking the large crowd. Some people from nearby islands could swear they've heard a booming noise from Water 7. The shouts even drowned the Straw Hats laughing.

"Hahahahahahahahahaha!", the rubber man laughed, truly finding the denizens of Water 7 and tourists that came extra for this interview, as well as countless people watching or listening to the broadcast worldwide. "It's true actually, I told them we'd leave them alone unless they decided to take away one of us. And they did, which seriously pissed us off.", Luffy continued after finishing his laugh.

Sweatdropping, the interviewer resumed his questions. "M-mind if I ask, can you tell us about the details about what happened on Enies Lobby?"

Like an evil genius coming up with an evil plan, the black-haired grinned menacingly, making the cowboy-like man shudder heavily. " _All_ the details? Do you mean _EVERYTHING_?"

Almost stopping to breathe, the interviewer wanted to tell the 17-year-old he was extremely spooky, but his throat didn't let out a single sound.

"I take that as a yes.", the strawhat said, amazing everyone watching. Meanwhile, close to a million people were talking about how badass he was, and even more people were thinking it.

"So, where do I begin?", the future Pirate King started, scratching his beardless chin. "Ah right, let's talk about the beginning. People of Water 7, did you know a secret group of World Government killers, CP9 was hiding undercover amongst you?"

People began screaming, the rumors were real. The World Government actually deployed killers to shut up certain people. "THE RUMORS ARE TRUUUUUUUUUE!"

"Hahahahahahaha!", the 360 Million Berry man laughed again, his nakama chuckling alonside. "Now now, those guys were taken care of.", the rubber man calmed the people down. The Gorosei, who were watching from Mariejois right now, went absolutely furious. They didn't know, though, some even more precious secrets were about to be blurted out. "Me and my nakama went to Enies Lobby and met CP9's boss, one of the biggest douchebags I've ever seen. He told us about the Buster Call, a Marine military attack.". Following that, he smirked victoriously, intending to expose the World Government. At the very same moment, the Gorosei were innerly begging Luffy to stop it. "Can anyone guess what the Buster Call is?"

Turning their heads towards their friends or family, the spectators began discussing what the Buster Call could possibly be. Amongst those ideas, there were some particularly interesting ones.

It took a full minute for a boy in his late teens to muster up courage and raise his hand. "What's your guess?", Luffy asked, pointing at the teen. Majority of the planet expected an answer from him. Though he regretted it, he couldn't just say quiet, so the boy decided to share his idea. "It's called 'Buster Call', right? I don't think 'busting' something should be considered a strange option."

"Bingo!", the black-haired called, then proceeding to further talk about the Buster Call. "The Buster Call is a fleet of 10 warships with 5 Vice Admirals on it sent to, that's right, bust something.". Just like the first time, he made another victorious smirk. "And what do you think, is being busted?"

The whispering returned. A boy beside the one who answered the first question, his best friend, raised his hand after less than 50 seconds, preparing to give an answer.

"What's your guess."

"Whew.", the young man in his very late teens let out, wiping sweat off his face with a tissue. "Ten warships, that's some firepower. The Buster Call might actually be capable of busting an island. That's… pretty terrifying."

"You know what?", the 17-year-old spoke, staring at the brave boy. "You're right, the Buster Call is an order that comes from hell, practiced by the Marines and therefore the World Government. It would've destroyed Enies Lobby while trying to obliterate us if Zoro and Sanji hadn't wrecked a large portion of the fleet.". Although that was enough information to get the World Government into a spotlight they didn't want to be in, the strawhat was far from finished. "My nakama, my friend Nico Robin, or rather her home island, was a direct victim of the World Government. I was told, her entire home island and all people living on it fell victim to the evil known as Absolute Justice, just because of something that might potentially pose a threat to the World Government. You know what's crazy? I figured out they gave her a high bounty 20 years ago because she survived, which she wasn't supposed to. Can you still think of the World Government as the protector from evil?"

People who thought ill of Robin before let that sink in. They realized they hated a girl because they followed the World Government like sheep, for no real reason at all. She didn't do anything to deserve this!

"That's right, most of you don't think she deserved it!", the future Pirate King stated loudly, forcing most people to wonder how he read their mind. "I don't care about people's pasts as long as they're good people, but this is the perfect opportunity to clear this up! The 'Devil's child' is no devil!"

While many people cheered and applauded, two people reacted differently. The cowboy, who'd been forgotten by pretty much everyone left the stage. He wanted to ask the 360 Million Berry man why he decided to make Water 7 his territory, but he had gotten his answer. Not even the mayor who didn't bow to anyone before couldn't resist the rubber man's charisma. Robin reacted with tears of joy. If anyone else had spoken out 'Buster Call', she wouldn't have been well with that. Despite her tragedy, she deeply trusted her captain, and thanked him deeply for liking her the way she was, defending her against the blind world that didn't bother researching the truth.

"Thank you for listening!", Luffy told all people listening his voice, turning around. Sweet payback was sweet.

…

Reactions to Luffy's interview:

…

Holy Land of Mariejois, Gorosei room:

The bald Gorosei with a mustache nearly crushed his cup. He was utterly furious, more than his comrades. "That insolent brat….", he spat, his head turned red. "How dare he tell one of the secrets we were supposed to keep safe no matter what to the entire world?!"

Beside him, the youngest Gorosei gritted his teeth. Those two were the most prideful, the shocking reveal angered them the most. The samurai-like Gorosei shook his head. He was angry too, but more annoyed than angry. "Another damn troublesome pirate brat…", he complained, moving his sword to his other shoulder. "Should I tell the Fleet Admiral to raise his bounty by another 200 Million?"

"No.", the short Gorosei with his staff replied, hiding his contempt below his skin. "We should let CP0 deal with him immediately, that brat's becoming like Roger unexpectedly fast."

"There's still the possibility he acted out of emotions.", the tall Gorosei spoke, his frown deepening. "Still, what Strawhat Luffy did was unforgivable. We'll see how much damage he's done to us in the next few days. Under no circumstances shall we let that happen again!"

All Gorosei nodded sternly, with the swordsman Gorosei turning towards the tall one. "The Marines suffered the most actually… What if we let Sengoku decide the brat's punishment. I think he'd send an Admiral or two after them."

The Gorosei with his wooden staff huffed before speaking. "That is a good idea, my friend. Absolute justice can serve them what they deserve. Though", he continued, his eyes getting very narrow, " _should_ Strawhat and his crew survive it and cause something major like that again, we'll give an order to _exterminate_ them. Objections?"

"None", the other Gorosei spoke. The bald one with a mustache was still greatly furious. A 17-year-old rookie pirate exposed the mightiest organization, the organization of law and order. He didn't underestimate Luffy at all, which made him greatly fear and hate the boy, more than the other Gorosei.

…

"Are you mad, Sengoku?!", Garp roared into his Den Den Mushi. His afternoon had just been ruined. One of his communication officers informed the Marine Hero that his long-time friend Fleet Admiral Sengoku gave Admiral Akainu the order to capture or kill the Straw Hat Pirates. "Don't you know how Sakazuki's brain works?!"

Sengoku seemed annoyed, all he did was just give an order which most Marines would give if they were Fleet Admiral. "Goddamnit Garp, why must you make things complicated?", the afro man complained, frowning. "Your grandson directly damaged the Marines by spilling one of our biggest secrets. Now we're going to look bad in the eyes of the public. I thought you were someone who'd choose justice over family."

Garp's eyes narrowed, he didn't like the day at all. Why did his only biological grandson have to be a pirate notorious enough to get Admirals sent after him. And he couldn't even stop it, the old man loved being a Marine and at the side of justice too much. "Just why Sakazuki…", the Marine Hero asked, having a complicated feeling.

"He is efficient.", the Buddha simply and strictly reasoned. "End of story Garp, it's your family's fault."

When Sengoku hung off, Garp felt a mixed stream of anger and sadness flow through his head. Luffy was known for doing reckless things and getting into trouble, but Sakazuki was an absolute madman. "Luffy… I am _not_ proud of what you did!", the old man muttered, clenching his teeth of disappointment and regret.

…

Although far from related by blood, the Barto Club pirates were super proud of Luffy and his actions. Confetti was flying in the air.

"LUFFY-SENPAAAAAAAAAAAAI!", the Straw Hat fanboys yelled in joy, Bartolomeo being the loudest.

"Let's celebrate our favourite vice captain's name again!", Barto demanded, his fist raised in the air. "ZORO-SENPAAAAAAAAAAI!"

Two and a half minutes passed, until the fanboys finished celebrating their idols. There was a short debate going on if they should include Franky or not. In the end Bartolomeo decided to include him, because they'd be disrespecting a potential future Straw Hat, and Straw Hat candidates were worthy enough to be praised.

"Gambia, have you recorded the entire interview?", the green-haired asked his staff-officer, having the desire to precisely collect everything Straw Hat related.

"Of course, you'd be mad if I didn't.", Gambia replied.

"Yosh!", the Barrier man then exclaimed, signalizing his crew to do as he says. "The next thing we're gonna do is stare at their posters hanging on our galley's wall!"

"Yes yes yes!", Barto's followers cheered, excitedly following their crazy captain.

…

Emotions and moods were swinging, each and every seconds. Nothing was the same, especially no feelings. Yonko Big Mom inside her castle impatiently waited for her eldest son.

"Perorin~", Perospero sang, entering the queen's throne room. "Mama, I did lots of research about the rookie Monkey D. Luffy who dared to insult you some time ago. You wanted me to gather information about his family so you can send him one of their heads. Though…"

Charlotte Linlin raised her brow. "Go on, why are you quiet?!", she demanded after Perospero stopped speaking.

"You won't like who Strawhat's related with… First off, his grandfather is no other than Monkey D. Garp the Marine Hero, the one who's said to have gone toe to toe with the Pirate King. I suppose you know him?"

Big Mom's eyes shot open. "That Garp?! It seems my notions weren't wrong. But there must be weaker members in his family, go on!"

The Candy man began to sweat. "Now… this one was by far the hardest to find out, if it wasn't for my lucky streak then I wouldn't have found out about this. His father is the Revolutionary Monkey D. Dragon."

"What?!", the gigantic woman exclaimed, becoming envious. The mere rookie had not one but two ridiculously strong family members. Getting close to Dragon was impossible, even she knew that. Not only was she furious about his insult, but the boy had a better family than her. Slowly, her mind was becoming twisted out of rage. "Perospero, name me the weakest possible members of this brat's family right now!"

Though there were some family members the Sweet Commanders of Totto Land could capture, their connections made it even more impossible. The middle-aged man with a long tongue paled more than any make-up would allow. "T-there are two others I know, his adoptive brothers 'Black Rod' Sabo and 'Fire Fist' Ace. B-but, there is a _single_ problem."

"And what would that be?", Linlin demanded, leaning over towards her son. She was getting tired of obstacles, she was a mighty Yonko with great influence, not a suicidal maniac with caveman intelligence like Kaido or an alcoholic with a small crew like Shanks.

"Those two are commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates. If we captured even one of them we'd have Whitebeard coming to Totto Land."

That was it, Big Mom was at her anger limit. She HATED Whitebeard, she _despised_ him. Not only had he _always_ been stronger and mightier than her, but his very name brought those flashbacks with Lola to her mind. How Lola ran off from her arranged marriage with Prince Loki, who could've provided her an army of giants. With that army she could've defeated him and stop his record of being a step ahead of her. Unfortunately for her, thanks to traitorous Lola, that dream never came to reality. "W-W-W-WHITEBEARD?!"

Perospero saw red. His mother's head turning red out of fury and deep anger. As fast as he could, he pulled his Den Den Mushi out of his coat and ran out of Whole Cake Chateau, dialing head-chef Streusen's Den Den Mushi.

"Streuseeeeeeeeeeeen!", the Candy Man called in a very agitated and hectic manner once the old chef picked up. "Mama is in a fit of rage! Do your best to stop her, understand?"

"Understand!", Streusen replied, quickly ending the call and going back to work. He sighed. His job was a terrible one. Most of the time he could leave the cooking to his underlings, but once there was a rage moment of Linlin, he had to stressfully overwork himself in order to save everyone's lives. The Yonko was a woman who'd kill if she didn't get sweets by one of the best cooks in the entire world.

…

2 days later:

Zambai was leading ten additional Franky Family members towards the Strawhats' base. Running in their heavy iron pants was cruelly tiring, hence the sweat all over their bodies. The building's door was just in sight, after stopping briefly to spread the news, they'd be somewhat fit enough to lead the pirates to Franky.

Roughly 10 seconds later, after falling on the floor of exhaustion, Zambai began speaking to Nami who'd opened the door because of heavy men dropping on the ground. "S-s-sis, *pant* Aniki wants to see you guys!", Zambai let out, wheezing. "H-he just finished your s-ship!"

"What, really?!", it came from the room behind, the other Straw Hats soon gathering around the door. "I say we should see this right now!", Luffy spoke, an eager smirk on his face.

"I'm soo excited~!", Chopper called, hopping up and down.

Zambai could only grin at the sight, those pirates were something. But he had a job to do, so he emerged back to full stature. "Guys!", he exclaimed, staring at his comrades. "The Straw Hats wanna see their ship immediately, so get up, no more wheezing!"

Slowly but steadily, the Franky Family members stood up, leading the way to the coast where Franky's finished dream ship was docked. "Here we go!", they shouted, running at full speed again.

2 minutes later though, due to not getting enough rest, the Franky Family members collapsed again and Zambai had to give directions to Nami so the Straw Hats could arrive there themselves.

…

Before they continued the way on their own, Zambai told them it was a great ship. The ship was hidden under a huge tarp so the design of it wasn't visible. However, with great he also meant the size. Even 5 blocks away from the coast the ship was perfectly visible.

"It's huge!", Nami observed, not being that comfortable with running due to the kind of her footwear.

"I mainly want to see how it looks like!", the long-nosed replied, no longer sad about Going Merry.

"What name do you plan to give it, Luffy?", Robin asked, curious about her friend's naming skills.

"Soon, Robin.", the black-haired answered, turning his head and smiling. "I'll tell all of us once we get there."

One minute later, the pirates arrived at the coast where Franky completed his dream ship. The cyborg was standing beside his proudest work, Iceburg and the Galley-La foremen by his side.

"Oi, Straw Hats!", the blue-haired called, grinning widely. "I've made you a ship that can cross every kind of sea! You won't have to lose a friend anymore!"

"Aweso~me!", the small Zoan exclaimed, stars shining in his eyes. He was just about to tear up of happiness. "No more deaths like Merry, woo!"

"Aaaaaaaand,", the pervert continued in a proud tone, "I've decided to name it-"

"Thousand Grand Sunny.", Iceburg interrupted his old friend, shaking his head in slight annoyance. "Franky, what have I told you?" You can't name a pirate ship like that, especially not a beautiful one like this!"

Slightly annoyed himself, Franky turned his head, looking at the other side with his arms crossed. "Tch, Bakaberg.", he muttered, narrowly smirking after saying his friend's taunting nickname. It was a bad habid of the cyborg to insult his former partner after he'd done so many favors, like the latest one 30 minutes ago.

30 minutes earlier:

The last piece of furniture was carried into a room of the Thousand Grand Sunny.

"Finally!", the blue-haired shouted of pride and joy, getting into his pose. "SUUUUUPEEEEEEEEER!"

After being done with his pose, the pervert started walking away. "My life work is achieved, now I can die in peace."

His old friend raised his brow at seeing Franky leave like that. "Hey, where are you going?", the mayor curiously demanded. "Weren't you going to stay here and leave with the Straw Hats?"

Hearing that, the cyborg stopped, turning around. "Why?", he asked, frowning. "You already know why I can't."

Sighing out, Iceburg shook his head again, approaching his fellow shipwright. "Listen to me, Franky, and don't say a word.", the middle-aged man spoke with an ordering, authoritative voice. He bore a strict expression and made the blue-haired clear to stay quiet. "You feel obligated to stay in this town because you think you owe a 'debt', right? No, you're completely wrong at that! Tom-san would've forgiven you and even I chose to forgive you, why can't you forgive yourself?! You paid off your 'debt' by building your ship! Now go out there and find happiness on the seas, I order you Franky!"

Iceburg raised his voice a little after every word. Not even Paulie who'd been his most trusted man since day one could believe how loud his boss could yell for a friend. The Galley-La Company workers, along with Franky Family were pushed to tears. Even more than them was Franky, who for the first time experienced brotherly love from his old friend. Love as if they were real brothers.

"Y-yeah, Aniki! *sob*", Zambai called, sobbing but smiling. "Normally you'd tell us not to worry about your life with our non-existent brains, but can't we all care about your happiness?"

Although the cyborg was a crybaby for comical and partially manly reasons, he was more than genuine this time. They all wanted the best for him, and even the stubborn him realized he couldn't be happy if he stayed in this city for the rest of his life. "You guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuys!", he shouted out, his eyes and nose leaking very much. "If you r-really want this for me… THEN I'LL BECOME A PIRAAAAAAATE!"

Magically and naturally at the same time, smiles appeared on the faces of Galley-La Company and Franky Family. Thumbs were put up, and some individuals whistled cheering sounds. The cola-powered pervert was sure he'd find equal love amongst the Straw Hats he now was willing to join.

…

"Alright Straw Hats, you've waited long enough. Let me show you how your supeeeeeeeer new ship looks like!", Franky announced, finally removing the overly large tarp. Some random members of Galley-La Company and Franky Family weren't fast enough to not be buried below a huge white piece of cloth.

At first their breath stopped, then their hearts. For a millisecond that felt like eternity to them, the Straw Hats died of awe. Following the tiny fraction of a second, their mouths opened wide up and multiple stars appeared on their eyes. The new ship of the Straw Hat Pirates, Thousand Grand Sunny shone on them like something heavenly.

The exterior design was exactly that of the original Thousand Sunny, the only difference being a Kairoseki bottom. However, the Grand Sunny was larger than a Marine warship. It was just as large as Shanks' Red Force to be exact.

"This…", Sanji started, his eyes flickering, "is…", Zoro continued, his body trembling, "AWESOME!", Luffy finished, leaping to the sky and stretching his hand forward.

"SUGOOOOOI! How huge!", Chopper exclaimed, getting the urge to run on deck. Beside him, his nakama also felt the urge.

"Let's explore it, guys!", the black-haired shouted in enjoyment, about to go on a mini adventure. Although the outside was almost the same, the inside could be all kinds of different. Given Sunny's size, he'd possibly have to explore hundreds of rooms and dozens of corridors.

"You wanna see the rooms? Let me guide you guys.", the cyborg offered, smirking coolly. Making the Straw Hats proud of their new ship was hist first priority right now.

With that, the blue-haired led the way for his future nakama, stepping onto the Sunny

…

Lawned deck aside, the pirates went inside through the main door. Below deck there truly were hundreds of rooms and four decks below.

"Alright.", the pervert began, pointing at the various doors while walking through the main corridor. "Let me tell you all details about your lovely new ship. It has enough room for 1000 people to sleep and many more supeeeeeeer rooms. Like your new kitchen and dining room."

The cook went inside the room Franky was pointing at. His eyes made contact with the clean and polished kitchen. The electronic devices were of highest quality and so new they appeared to originate directly from the factories. All kinds of furniture were elegant and expensive-looking. "I-is this heaven?!", the blond let out, overly satisfied.

"Oho, it seems you liked the kitchen.", the cyborg remarked, grinning thankfully. "All the furniture and extra stuff that wasn't on the ship cost us nearly a billion ourselves, my family's in great debt now. You need to pay them a billion more but trust me, it's all worth it. Just look at the training room."

Few seconds later the blue-haired opened the doors of the Straw Hat training room. There was all kinds of gym equipment and fitness devices. The swordsman appreciated this room the most. "The dumbbells are mine!"

"Another suuuuupeeeeeer room, right?", the pervert said, continuing towards the next room with a content smirk. "I made sure you guys'll love every room. Let's continue with the infirmary."

Inside the infirmary there was an additional lab. Two rooms combined in one and with latest technology. "Sugooooooi!", the doctor exclaimed in gratitude. "Thanks Franky, now I'll become an even better doctor!"

"Hehe, no need to thank me.", Franky spoke, rubbing the back of his head while blushing. "I also made a room for the ladies. Let me show you."

Not just the infirmary was two rooms in one. Sunny's library and cartography room were also united into one. "Tadaa. You can read and draw maps quietly in here.", the cyborg explained.

"I like it!", the navigator called, jumping into the air. "Franky, you're the best!"

"I agree, you're quite the shipwright.", the archaeologist added.

"Eh, eh, don't praise me like that.", the blue-haired said, comically dancing like Chopper when he's embarrassed.

"Talking about shipwrights,", the strawhat changed the topic, looking in his future shipwright's eyes "would you like to be our shipwright?"

Putting his sunglasses on, the pervert jumped into the air with arms raised, then made his pose. "I've decided to be your SUPEEEEEEER shipwright, count on me!"

Suddenly, the future Pirate King got into the same pose, celebrating his new nakama. "Awesome! I don't want any other shipwright besides you, Franky!", the rubber man declared. "Sanji, prepare a feast! We're gonna celebrate getting a new nakama!"

…

The rest of the early noon went fine, one last feast with Galley-La Company and Franky Family. The rest of the money the Straw Hats received from selling the gold pillar finally arrived and Franky Family generously received a billion for buying all the expensive interior stuff.

"Farewell, then…", Franky muttered, staring at his adoptive family. "I've known you for years and now I must go. Try to find happiness without me, my boys and girls."

Those boys and girls from Franky Family were weeping pretty hard. "Aniki!", they cried, yet accepting their former leader's departure. He had to go his own way too.

"Farewell to you too, Bakaberg. I'm gonna miss you."

Iceburg merely bowed, showing respect silently. 'I'm going to miss you too, my idiot friend.'

"Whew!", Nami let out, sighing. "Time has come, we have to-"

 ***Boom!***

A cannonball exploded behind the Sunny. Taken by surprise, everyone turned around. A Marine warship was approaching and firing more cannonballs. Luffy used Observation haki to identify the one leading the vessel and was utterly shocked. That man had an aura auf pure evil, beyond menacing. Too many bad memories came back. Sakazuki would not get close to his nakama on his watch.

"Oi, guys!", he shouted seriously, waving his hands around. "Admiral Akainu is on that ship. Let's get outta here!"

Realizing the threat of an Admiral, the other Straw Hats panicked. "What?! An Admiral is chasing after us, is this a joke?!"

Hectic and negative emotions befell Sunny's crew. "What're we gonna do?!"

Still observing the enemy ship, the black-haired clenched his teeth when he saw Akainu amassing a huge amount of magma then turning it into a giant fist.

The threat was real, the Logia user actually jumped off his ship with high speed and came flying towards the Straw Hats, getting closer every second.

Sweating, Franky pulled a tissue out of his jacket and wiped sweat off his forehead. "That guy looks like he's using magma, which can maybe even burn this ship's special Adam Wood. But, I incorporated one last trick into Sunny I haven't shown you yet. Look closely!"

There were some cola barrels on deck, so the cyborg picked them up. He put them into a specific slot with some machinery attached.

"I call it Coup de Burst.", the shipwright announced in a badass manner, pointing at himself.

Akainu was getting very close, too close. When the Admiral was about to land his punch, he opened his mouth for the first time that hour. "End of the line, pirate scum! You're gonna get obliterated by justice! Dai Fun-"

"Coup de Burst!"

The Magma man made a surprised face when he saw a blue energy beam building up inside the rear turbine of Thousand Grand Sunny. Shortly after the pirate ship shot forward, flying away, which made his attack useless.

He could've sworn he heard some of the pirates cheering, which made his blood boil. Nobody escaped the fearsome Admiral before. "I'm… getting… them… next… time…", Sakazuki cursed, an enraged expression on his face. The Straw Hats were safe and sound, but they wouldn't be the next time they met. At least so he thought.

…

Meanwhile, a black-haired man of above-average height wearing a worn out suit sat down on a bench. Him and his pigeon were on a snowy small island on the Grand Line. An island so small and insignificant the Marines wouldn't bother controlling the happenings. Even pirates stayed away because they knew there wasn't anything to loot except for second-rate potatoes. Yet this island was one of the main recruiting grounds of the Revolutionary Army.

When Lucci escaped Enies Lobby thanks to Blueno, he had enough of the World Government. The former CP9 agent didn't really support their ideals and was only there to kill people, but he considered their move betrayal nonetheless. He was one of their best agents and raised by them, and they chose to sacrifice him even though they could've saved him. The Leopard man was really frustrated and chose to pay them back by joining the Revolutionary Army.

Thanks to being a Zoan user, Rob Lucci possessed enhanced senses. He didn't have Observation haki yet he noticed the presence of two people, by their smell.

'Those must be Revolutionaries', Lucci thought, tensing up. He was a former World Government member, so he had to be ready for the scenario where he is under attack.

With each step, the two Revolutionaries stepped closer. The former CP9 agent was truly shocked at the sight of who was the second Revolutionary once he turned his head. One was just a normal human, most likely a regular scouting officer. The other one was the leader of that fearsome organization himself. "Y-yo-you're Monkey D. Dragon!", the Leopard man shouted in a quieter tone, completely unable to hold a straight face.

Dragon grinned widely, aware of the fact he was intimidating someone who was known to be one of Cipher Pol's all-time greatest. "Relax.", the world's most wanted man spoke, making the Zoan calm down without him noticing.

'Strange, why did I relax because he told me to?', Lucci thought, still very nervous. Hattori shared his feelings.

"I know why you're here and what you want.", the Revolutionary casually stated, forcing the Zoan to stay on guard just by looking. "Normally I wouldn't let people like you join the Revolutionary Army but I'm not someone who gives up. If we can win you for our cause, then you can stay. Got it?"

"Got it.", the Leopard man replied with a poker face. He'd never acted this way before but that was his one chance.

"Fine then.", Dragon finished, turning around, prompting Lucci to stand up and follow him. "I'm sure we can slightly improve your personality and lessen your addiction to murder. You have great potential Rob Lucci."

In a way, that man was weirder and more frightening than his son. Lucci didn't have extremely high hopes since he only cared about his justice, Dark Justice, and was a literal killing machine. The former CP9 agent only knew it was going to become a bizarre and interesting trip. He followed the world's most wanted man to his ship and wondered what would happen in the future.

…

* * *

 **I finally finished this chapter! Sorry for how long it took, school was hella busy and I was sick for two weeks. Now that I finished the chapter, you might have a few questions.**

 **1\. "What about Merry?" – Next chapter, I promise.**

 **2\. "Why did Luffy act this way when Akainu came?" – I can explain this. Luffy could've defeated him right there. Why didn't he? Plot armor. I gave Akainu plot armor since I've recently noticed a trend. Some people are calling Luffy's win against Katakuri in the manga plot armor and Luffy a character who constantly gets plot armor no matter what. To me it seems like those people don't want Luffy to get stronger. One Piece is closer to its end each chapter, he has to become as strong as Gol D. Roger one day when he becomes Pirate King. Luffy needs to carry himself to victory alone, and this is one of the times when he seriously needs to. And in a story where there are battles the main character has to defeat stronger characters at times. Plot armor exists in every Shounen manga with fights, One Piece is no exception. Now that I gave Sakazuki plot armor as this fanfic's author, how do you like it now? Sorry if it sounds like a rant, and I don't mean it as a rant, but I find the part of the fanbase which constantly calls out Luffy for having some plot armor really annoying. And it's not just One Piece. I hope at least some of you can find this relatable.**

 **Stay hyped for Thriller Bark! Constructive criticism allowed. Rate and review if you like.**


	29. C29: Everything's Confusing

**Never again!**

 **Hi guys it's time for a brand new chapter, this time on Thriller Bark. I'm going to warn you right now, the main events won't be that long due to how strong the Straw Hats are compared to Canon One Piece. Most of this chapter will mainly be dialogue. Now to the questions.**

 **Answer to anyone asking why a plane was there last chapter:** **It wasn't in the manga but in the anime there was a very short scene of Garp letting Luffy fall from the sky with balloons tied to his back. That was in the sky and I used the plane as the reason for that since Garp has never shown us using Geppo.**

 **Answer to Werva1:** **You'll get your answer next chapter probably.**

 **Answer to Grimm Reaper 167:** **Thank you for this kind of support, you give me hope.**

 **Answer to who was it:** **Don't worry, I'm not dropping it and please don't do it. It wouldn't be nice even if I did drop it.**

 **Answer to is it:** **It's not dead yet :)**

 **Also, remember Chapter 17? In the end I said I'll no longer anwer the questions of unnamed reviewers because It gets confusing when I reply to multiple people with the name "Guest". But I get the feeling I need to clear up some questions because some things from last chapter were unclear. Last chapter, a piece of Akainu's magma dripped and cooled down on the sea's surface, which gave Akainu a place to stand on. And the new ship Thousand Grand Sunny is so large because it looks good. When the Straw Hat Grand Fleet is formed, the Grand Sunny will look like an awesome fleet leader.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**

* * *

 **Chapter 29: Everything's Confusing**

After a marvelous fun flight, the Sunny landed on a plain spot in the ocean. The pirate crew was safe and free of pursuit, a reason to celebrate in the eyes of Sanji. "Whew, we made it out thanks to you, Franky! I'll go prepare some drinks!"

Franky got into his pose, stretching his arms diagonally. "Au! Champagner for me, since the Sunny needs a Suuuuuupeeeeeer big amount of cola."

"I'm gonna catch a fish and put it in the new fish tank.", Luffy announced, heading towards the railing. "Chopper, do you want to come and look at it?"

"Yeah!", Chopper exclaimed, wondering how big of a shark the black-haired will catch.

Meanwhile, Nami just stood where she was standing minutes ago and mused about the weather, touching her chin. "Guys, a raging storm will come soon. We should slowly get to our posts!"

"Just a second, let me pull out this shark right here!", the 17-year-old called, lifting a Horn Shark then throwing it into the water tank.

"Sugoi! That was a nice catch, Luffy!"

"Thanks, Chopper. We should help Nami now.", the strawhat spoke, running towards his position with Chopper. They were the last ones there.

Then the raging storm came. In truth, it was only raging to normal ships. A mighty and proud vessel like the Thousand Grand Sunny endured the waves pretty easily. Despite this, the waves carried Sunny for miles. And when the waves eased, the Straw Hats found themselfs in a thick fog.

"Hmm", Zoro thought out loud, not liking this although he wasn't scared in the slightest. "What kind of fog is this? Everything's so dark."

"Could we've entered the vicinity of Fishman Island already?", Usopp inquired, ready for a calmer adventure.

"No.", the cyborg simply stated, shaking his head. "We've just entered the famous Florian Triangle, the strange sea where almost everything disappears, shrouded in mystery."

Placing her palm on her forehead, the navigator bowed forward in annoyance. "Oh no, I wanted to avoid this place…", she groaned.

"But Nami, hundreds of ships go missing here every year. There must be many valuable treasure chests in this area.", Robin informed, changing the ginger's mind about the Florian Triangle.

Suddenly, a charming and beautiful male voice started singing somewhere, the echo reaching each Straw Hat's ears. "Yohohoho~ Yohohoho~~ Yohohoho~ Yohohoho~~"

"What?!", the long-nosed panicked, grabbing his head. "Is a skeleton singing?!"

'Exactly, Usopp!', the future Pirate King thought, already smiling. Brook was here.

Noticing that the sound came from behind, the Straw Hat crew turned around, an old and battered ship with worn out sails entering their vision. "GHOST SHIIIIIIIP!", all pirates save for Luffy and Robin shouted out in surprise and disbelief for the moment.

"Yohohoho~ Yohohoho~~"

"Is there someone riding this ship?", the archaeologist asked, certain the singing came from a person.

"If it's an enemy I'll just cut him down.", the swordsman spoke, pulling Wado Ichimonji out of half its sheath.

"Something's there.", the cook stated, ready to fight if necessary.

His obvious statement came true, once the ghost ship came close to the Grand Sunny, everyone could clearly see a skeleton with an afro drinking tea from a cup. "Going to deliver~… Binks' sake~…"

The eyes of the weakling trio watered up of fear at the sight of such a strange being. The world they lived in was strange, but a singing and standing alive skeleton must've been something that couldn't exist twice. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

10 seconds later though, even Usopp fully calmed down, despite holding a silver cross in his hands.

…

Despite the ship's size, Thousand Grand Sunny was even bigger. "I'm gonna talk to this guy!", the 360 Million Berry man announced, jumping over the railing on the other ship's deck.

"LUFFY!", his crew yelled, the rubber man not caring. The green-haired and blond knew their captain wasn't a man to back down so they just jumped after him.

Immediately after the Monster trio landed on deck, Brook took off his hat to politely greet the humans. "How do you do? Yoho~hoho! Pardon my earlier behavior, I met eyes with you before, yet could give no greeting!", the skeleton greeted, baffling Zoro and Sanji.

"Hi Br- skeleton with afro!", Luffy called, lively as ever. "Nice to meet ya!"

"What a surprise! It's been decades perhabs, since I've met a living person! All you see is a ghost ship after a ghost ship around these parts. So scary!"

Neither the first mate nor the Vinsmoke had adequate words.

Important things first, the black-haired acted like he didn't know Brook. "Are you a musician? You can sing very well."

"Indeed I am.", the skeleton politely replied, bowing. "My name is Brook and I can sing and play the violin."

"Awesome!", the 17-year-old shouted in a content manner, raising his arms in the air. "Now forgive me if I'm too blunt but can you join my crew?"

Comically, the eyes of Zoro and Sanji turned blank in disbelief, making them get into confused poses. "What?!"

Although Brook didn't answer, the strawhat continued. "Let me just invite you over to dinner, okay?"

The musician nodded, agreeing to come. Both the swordsman and cook were still bewildered, it all went just too fast.

…

Few seconds later, after the future Pirate King and his future nakama jumped onto Sunny's railing, the atmosphere around the deck was mixed up. As always, Robin stayed calm, Nami freaked out and Usopp got scared. Though Chopper wasn't as scared as the sniper, he decided to mimic his actions and held onto another, smaller cross.

"Yohohoho! A cheerful greeting!", the skeleton exclaimed, friendly with his future nakama. "Hello everyone! How do you do? Seems like my ship and I caused some trouble. I'm 'Dead-bones' Brook, nice to meet ya!"

'This guy talks a lot.', Franky thought, before opening his mouth and making his opinion public. "What the hell is this guy Luffy, are you joking?!"

"Yohoho, don't be so harsh."

"It's a skeleton!", the reindeer shouted, now fully hiding behind his cross.

"There's no reason for a skeleton to walk, talk, or wear an afro! This is just a dream!", the sharpshooter claimed, protectively holding his right hand with a necklace of beads forward. On his neck there was a necklace too, a necklace of garlic.

"Really? I'm glad it's just a dream.", the Zoan naively said, forgetting reality for a moment.

"Begone foul spirit! Begone foul spirit!", the marksman continued to shout.

Meanwhile, the musician without skin ignored the cowardly duo and focused on the female duo. "Oh, hello young ladies. May I see your panties please?"

"Hell no!", the navigator snapped at him, delivering a kick to his skull, which strangely enough formed a bump.

"I felt that down to my bones, just to the skeleton!", Brook joked, gaining more of the ginger's irritation.

"Shut up!"

"Whatever…", the Vinsmoke murmured, getting bored of this situation. "Let me finish dinner, we can talk inside.

Then everyone noticed how hungry they were. Discussing about the newly met skeleton while having dinner didn't sound like a bad idea at all.

…

"Oh, such a wonderful dining room! And the kitchen too! This is an incredible ship, yohohoho!", the musician spoke, really liking the ship.

"That's right. Super Franky made this ship, you have incredible eyes.", the cyborg said, very much liking the praise.

"Don't be so with him, Franky.", the blond quietly demanded, not very fond of the idea of getting close with the skeleton.

"It would be nice if we could start eating, I haven't had a proper meal for decades. Every day I've been living with this pain, as though the skin of my belly and my back were stuck together. But of course, I don't have skin on my belly or on my back! Yohohohoho!", Brook joked, laughing out his unique laugh. "Skulljoke!"

No Straw Hat laughed, save for Luffy. He didn't find it as funny as he found it the first time, but it was a nice memory of the old times, peaceful times. The black-haired laughed from the bottom of his heart. "Hahahaha! That was so nice to hear, Brook!"

"Since I'm a gentleman, I'll wait for the meal.", the musician continued sitting still. "I love how unconcerned that sounds."

Though he said he'll wait for the meal, not a second later he started making noise with his fork and knife. "Dinner~ Dinner~!"

"Shut up and wait quietly!", Sanji shouted full of annoyance, his teeth sharp. "I'm already finished, just drink your milk!"

As the cook carried plates with a nice meal to the dining table, all ruckus was gone. Brook was a weird fellow, so he himself stayed quiet the whole time to avoid exchanging words. Overall, the dinner was mostly quiet with Luffy occasionally praising the food.

…

After dinner, there was no need to stay that quiet anymore. The meal was already enjoyed and eaten. Also, the Straw Hats found out Brook had a devil fruit. "Yomi Yomi no mi?"

"That's right. In truth, I already died decades ago.", the skeleton calmly explained, gaining the attention of the pirates. "In short, the Yomi Yomi no mi has the power of revival. I was told I could live a second time as a 'revived human'. I was a pirate in those old times. In the ship you saw earlier, I came to this 'devil's sea' along with my nakama. Unluckily, we happened to engage with some frighteningly strong fellows and my crew was also annihilated. Of course, I also died at that time. When I was alive, the only thing the Yomi Yomi no mi gave me was the inability to swim. That day, the fruit's ability was activated and my soul returned from the underworld. If I had returned to my body immediately, I would've been resurrected. But as you see, there's a thick fog in this sea and I got lost for a year. When I finally found my own body, it was only white bones, even my eyeballs were gone!"

Additionally, to explaining his powers, Brook also told of his past. Or at least a part of it.

"So that's how you became a talking skeleton.", the shipwright pointed out, crossing his arms. "Being resurrected even though you were only white bones is the power of this devil fruit."

Zoro didn't understand one thing, so he proceeded to inquire. "Normally when a corpse rots it also loses its hair. Why do you have your afro?"

"Oh, the roots of my hair are just strong.", the musician stated, making the green-haired sweatdrop. "Whatever."

Still not convinced, Usopp raised his cross protectively in front of him again. "So, are you a ghost or not?!"

"I strongly dislike ghosts.", the skeleton told, perplexing some of the crew. "If I happen to see one I'll scream."

"Have you seen yourself in a mirror?", the orange-haired girl asked, thinking he was unbelievable.

"Gyaaaah! Take away that mirror!", Brook almost screamed, shielding his face with his arms. The long-nosed only got to take a short glance but he noticed something seriously wrong.

"Wait a minute, you're not reflected in the mirror!"

Chopper, not knowing if this was true or not, moved to the side of the sniper and looked. To his surprise, it was actually true. Brook appeared like a ghost, since there was no reflection of him. "He's… A VAMPIRE?!"

As scared as the sharpshooter was of vampires, he managed to keep his cool for some more time since the missing reflection wasn't the only thing wrong. "You don't have a shadow either!", the marksman exclaimed full of fear. "What are you?!"

Meanwhile, Brook merely slurped down his tea. Apparently, Sanji didn't understand that gesture at all. "How can you be so calm?! We're making this racket because of you!"

The musician thought the living and thriving human pirates deserved an explanation, since apparently he was the reason they were making such a ruckus. Putting down his tea cup, Brook started telling a story again, much like a grandpa. "I'll tell you everything now. It has been a long time since I've began drifting on the sea… Being a skeleton and not having a shadow are completely different things.", he explained, looking serious. "Some years ago, a man snatched away my shadow…"

"Snatched away?!", Usopp and Chopper yelled out in disbelief, not thinking something abstract as that would be possible.

Even Robin was a bit sceptical. "Your shadow?", she repeated, waiting for the explanation.

Only Zoro seemed to be okay with that. "You're a talking skeleton. It doesn't matter what you say, it won't surprise us anymore, right?", the swordsman said, not wanting to waste time.

"But it could.", the musician interjected, emphasizing the seriousness of having his shadow stolen. "A shadow being stolen means you cannot live in the light anymore. I once saw someone disappear under the sun with my own eyes, and it was a frightening sight even though I'm a skeleton. The same would happen to me since I don't have a shadow that should be seen in the light. I also cannot be seen in a mirror or photograph. In short, my existence is rejected by the light!"

That was a good explanation and the Straw Hats were about to say something, but Brook suddenly stopped being serious, returning to his old personality. "My nakama were all annihilated! My name is 'Dead-bones' Brook, nice to meet you! Yohohoho!"

"Why are you so cheerful?", Sanji asked, sweatdropping and annoyed. "Your life sucks!"

"Even then I'm alive and kicking!", the skeleton proudly stated, then adding something. "As a skeleton, though."

Neither the cook nor the cyborg were fans of skull jokes. "Shut up!", they seriously ranted simultaneously, sharp teeth like most of the time when Straw Hats are very annoyed.

"Yohohohoho~! Yohohohoho~!", Brook began to shout, cheerfully dancing and by that simultaneously making the weakling trio worry about his mental health. "Today is a wonderful day, I was able to find somebody!"

This exclamation was one of pure happiness and relief, making the Straw Hats clear the musician was pleased of their company. "I couldn't tell the difference between day and night in this dark, foggy sea all alone on a ship that won't obey its rudder. How many years I've been wandering. I've been reaaaaaally lonely, lonely and so afraid! So much that I wanted to die!"

Although the tone Brook was talking in wasn't sad, the drawn-out words gave them a hint of his past sufferings. They all felt sad for the skeleton.

But Brook didn't need them to feel sad for him, he was already happy. "I've lived a long time and people are a delight! For me, you are my delight, yohohoho! I could cry with happiness if I had tears!", he declared, causing the Straw Hats to warm up with him, except for Luffy who liked and knew him from the beginning. He wasn't nearly as bad or horrifying as they initially thought.

The musician was about to decline afterwards due to not wanting to involve them, but the black-haired anticipated. "That's really nice, I don't not want you in my crew. Please don't refuse like you were going to.", the 17-year-old said, greatly surprising the skeleton.

"What?!", Brook called out, confused like never before. "How did you now I was going to refuse? Can you see the future?!"

"Kind of.", the strawhat answered, making all jaws drop the ground. 'Thank you Katakuri, your technique is so cool!'. "Anyways, you told me your shadow is gone and I will help you as my future nakama, no matter what! I already know Gekko Moriah is behind all this and you don't want us to risk our lives. But trust me, we've already fought stronger guys aren't scared of a Shichibukai or his crew anymore.", he spoke, opening himself to Brook who was starting to think that developing a friendship with the Straw Hat Pirates might be the best decision in his life. "Don't face them alone!"

Due to his talking and convincing skills, the skeleton was on the brink of tears, about to grab the hand the future Pirate King was offering him. Just one inch before the hands touched, the musician detected a ghost in the wall observing them. Rapidly, Brook panicked, pressing his bony palms against his skull. "Uaaaaaaaaah! Are we under surveillance already?!"

By that the other Straw Hats reacted fast and set their eyes on the eavesdropper.

"Gyaaaaaaaaah! There's something!", a frightened Usopp exclaimed again, his eyes bulging out and his back on the ground.

But in a blink of an eye, the ghost already disappeared and loud vibrations were heard.

"What are those vibrations?", the green-haired wondered in a concerned way, holding his swords so they wouldn't move around in their sheaths.

"It would be better if you saw the source of the vibrations yourself.", the musician told, addressing all of the Straw Hat Pirates. He implied that they had to go through the door.

So the adventurous pirates stepped on their deck and looked around, most of them dropping jaws. Below them was still the raging sea, nothing special. In front of them was an island covered in fog, with a massive castle on top of it. Some humongous chains could be seen as well, however that wasn't close to the weirdest thing. Once they looked to their back, a huge gate with the shape of a mouth could be seen. That was kinda creepy, but the weirdest thing all but the future Pirate King agreed on, was the realization that a single island with a border wall around it was drifting alone in the Grand Line's waters, for no apparent reason. It wasn't even due to natural causes, but due to artificial causes.

"WHY IS THERE AN ISLAND?!", the most confused Straw Hats loudly let out, not liking the gloomy atmosphere around.

"This is the 'ghost island' that wanders through the sea, Thriller Bark.", Brook informed, making the cowardly trio clear they'd have a fear of ghosts in the next few hours.

Nami immediately looked at her Log Pose to find out some more about Thriller Bark. "The Log Pose isn't responding…", she muttered out, concerned and concentrated.

The skeleton was about to leap towards the ship's front railing, but just before that the rubber man appeared beside him after using Soru. "You were going to tell us to leave through the backside.", Luffy calmly spoke what the skeleton wanted to say, making him nervous. "Why should we do that?"

"Nnnnnn". Brook didn't find anything to reply. 'I know they're strong and doing this out of their own will, but what are those feelings?!'

"Take it easy, we can do things."

"Yeah.", Franky said, walking towards his captain in a way indicating he had to say something. "Since we're trapped here right now and there's a mysterious island close to us you might want to go on an adventure, am I correct?"

Everyone was curious, but all except for Brook already guessed what the cyborg was talking about. Not everything about the Sunny had been revealed.

"I haven't told you about the Soldier Dock System yet.", the blue-haired explained, the other Straw Hats being happy their prediction was right, but completely unaware of what it was. "It's a turntable with 6 compartments. The two round wooden gates at the sides of our Sunny are part of it."

Most Straw Hats weren't aware of that, and turned out pretty impressed. "So that's what they're there for!", the long-nosed and blue-nosed called almost simultaneously, wanting to learn more just like the other Straw Hats.

"Anyways,", the pervert continued his explanation, "there are six gates for six compartments. Two of them have the number 0 and and only two paddle wheels are inside. Number 1 has Nami's new modified waver, the Shiro Mokuba. Number 3 has a shark-themed submarine, oh I can't wait to use it myself. Number 4 is currently empty. You're now asking what's inside Number 2, right?"

Franky, who's surprisingly a musician himself, pulled drums out of thin air and walked towards a hatch hidden in the deck's lawn.

 ***drumrolls***

"Count down from 5 so you get more hyped up.", the cyborg recommended, about to descend the ladder down to the docking room.

 **5**

 **4**

 **3**

 **2**

 **1**

Each nakama loudly counted down, additionally closing their eyes. The skeleton joined for the fun of it, although he didn't understand the deal about it one bit.

Luffy deactivated his Observation haki, even though he knew about the new vehicle, since he was the one who asked the blue-haired to build it.

Once their eyes were opened, with the musician being an obvious exception for not having eyelids, everyone stared at the sea. The shipwright was in their view, standing on a familiar-looking boat. It was small, had brown and white wood, no patches at all and – a sheep figurehead.

"I am presenting you the Going Merry 2!", the pervert announced, loudly and proudly. The Straw Hats unaware of its existence felt a set of feelings, one single especially heavy heartbeat and varying facial expressions. "To make sure you'd like it more, I constructed it like the original. Except that everything beside the figurehead is made of Adam Wood leftover, the design is 100% similar to the first ship. No differences, I even reconstructed the interior like it was before."

"Ga…", Usopp let out, dropping to his knees. His eyes were tearing up, but sadness was not the case. "I could tell any day if a ship identical to Merry is fake or not… This feels like it's not real either, but… it's beautiful! I get the same friendly feelings from looking at it like I did when looking at Merry!", he yelled at the top of his lungs, crying of joy.

"It's beautiful indeed.", Robin agreed, staring at the Going Merry 2 with warm nostalgia.

"I second this.", Zoro spoke, liking the second Merry but not showing any emotion beside a smirk.

"I third this.", Nami said, just about to really cheer up.

"Woaaaah!", suddenly love-struck Sanji shouted, his hands swinging in the air and hearts in his eyes. "Nami-swan, I third this too! Now we're together in a number!"

The navigator hated how sometimes the cook's love antics didn't belong in the current situation at all. "Be happy about Merry's comeback instead, you big dumbass!", she exclaimed in an annoyed manner, knocking him down with her fist.

Unlike the others, the doctor seemed slightly obsessed after a few seconds, although he was the second happiest in the beginning. "Franky, I wanna riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide Merry!"

"Okay.", Franky coolly said, flicking his wrists up and down like waving. "You'll be the first to ride it.". Not even a second later, the cyborg changed his mind. "Actually no, all of us should get on it at the same time. You included, Brook."

That was a huge surprise for Brook. The musician knew they were acting friendly to him, but he didn't know they were friendly enough to let him participate in something that clearly belonged to the past and he knew nothing about.

"Oh, and…", the skeleton shyly mumbled, looking down. "Uh, if you really want to go there take salt with you. Moriah doesn't fight himself, he lets his zombies fight for him. Their weakness is salt. Put salt in their mouths and the zombies get purified."

"Purified?", the orange-haired curiously repeated, raising a brow. "What do you mean?"

"Moriah steals shadows for a reason. He puts them into corpses who fight for him. If you purify a zombie, the shadows returns to his owner.", Brook told, creeping out some of the cowardly trio.

"That's so messed up!", the reindeer angrily complained.

Luffy then nodded. "I agree, Chopper, and I got it, Brook.", the black-haired spoke, a determined and adventure-expecting look on his face. "I'm gonna get some salt now, wait for me guys!"

The 17-year-old subsequently sped into the galley in order to get some salt. While the cyborg sailed the Going Merry 2 back into the Soldier Dock System, the sniper got ahold of the Grand Sunny's steering wheel, changing direction towards Thriller Bark Island. Soon they would drop the anchor.

…

5 minutes later:

Sunny had been docked, the anchor was dropped. The strawhat collected every grain of salt and just jumped onto the Merry 2. Just after he laid the sack of salt on Merry 2's deck, he perceived a very wicked and perverted presence with his Observation haki. He looked that way and saw nothing, yet knew an enemy was there. Immediately, the future Pirate King stretched out his arm, grabbed the invisible foe who only noticed when it was too late, and pulled him towards himself, only to lift his arm and slam him onto the deck with full force.

"Hoge!", the enemy let out in pain, the devil fruit effects of his wearing out due to excruciating pain. It was Absalom, the invisible pervert with animal parts. He had his clothes on, so the only visible animal part was his lion snout. That still managed to disgust and creep out everyone beside the 360 Million Berry man.

"Eeeeeh?!", the Zoan and sharpshooter yelled out, panically throwing their arms in the air. "Are we dealing with ghosts AND monsters now?!"

"What a creep.", the swordsman mumbled, folding his arms.

"You're right. O-", the Vinsmoke said, suddenly stopping at the beginning of his second sentence before flipping out in shock. "WAIT A MINUTE IS THAT THE SUKE SUKE NO MI?!"

If Going Merry 2's deck wasn't made of Adam Wood, the speed of the ex-prince running towards his personal enemy would ignite the deck on fire.

Promptly, he lifted his left leg and brutally smashed it down the other pervert's head. "You…", Sanji furiously began, seething with anger. "When I was a kid, I read a devil fruit encyclopedia. I then decided that the ability to swim was better than most devil fruit powers, _most._ There is ONE devil fruit which I still want, the Suke Suke no mi. I always wanted to be an invisible man just once, so I swore myself to kill the user if I ever found him for destroying one of my dreams!"

Sanji's voice kept increasing its volume, so the blond shortly stopped speaking. "I kept visualizing my dream, I wanted this power to- WOMEN'S BATH! Wait no, I always asked myself- WOMEN'S BATH! No, I wanted to use this ability to benefit humani- WOMEN'S BATH!"

The result of the cook's tantrum made everyone around him, even the eyeless Brook change their expression into a pokerface of disbelief, particularly Nami and Robin.

"How… typical of you, dart-brows.", the green-haired teased, getting on the Vinsmoke's bad side again.

"Shut up!", the 154 Million Berry man roared, although focusing on Absalom instead. "Thanks to my year-long simulation, I know that you can peep! Forget that, I already know you peep, who wouldn't?!"

Although there was no reason to further anger the former prince, a flaming aura fully surrounded him. "That's why I won't forgive you!", he shouted, literally burning with anger. "WOMEN'S BATH! I mean, prepare to lose your life!"

Absalom, totally perplexed beyond his imagination and barely conscious, all but liked this reasoning for Sanji's outburst. "A-are you actually serious… YOU GODDAMN PERVERT?!", he screamed, attempting his newfound energy to stand up and tear the blond to shreds.

Apparently, that made the cook even angrier than the invisible man. "I don't want to be CALLED THAT BY YOU!", he yelled at the peak of his rage, almost killing Moriah's underling with a hard kick to the face.

"Damn it, he's not dead yet!", the 154 Million Berry man observed, not taking any breaks. "I-m gon-". Then he was restrained by arms from the Hana Hana no mi and the navigator stepped in front of him. "Sanji, Robin and I are officially forbidding you from eating that fruit. Don't even think of killing him, is that clear?"

Vinsmoke Sanji really found the ginger attractive when she yelled at him. Beside that, he was sad his dream was over, but he was lucky the orange-haired didn't hit him for that. "Crystal, my darlings.", the ex-prince pouted, lightly kicking the body of the invisible lion-snouted man to vent out some frustration.

"Alright.", Franky then spoke to the rubber man, inquiring about what to do next. "We're about to dock on the island, so where should we go?"

Luffy didn't have to think a second, his answer was already present and ready. "Let's just storm Moriah's castle and beat the shit out of him!"

That plan sounded stupidly simple to the other Straw Hats. Yet they felt like it would be 100% effective.

The only one who had other plans was Brook. "Guys, I do not agree with this plan but do whatever you want, just be careful. I can't be joining you since I have a score to settle with someone."

"Zoro, go with him!", the black-haired called, reacting to the skeleton. "We don't want Brook to get into a dire situation, do we?"

'Oh, he even saw that I might get into serious trouble against Ryuma.', the musician thought, impressed and frightened by the 17-year-old's skills. 'Now I wonder how strong this Zoro guy is.'

Silently, the first mate followed Brook on his way to his shadow. The Straw Hats were seperating.

A huge castle was engulfed in fog in the background. While the remaining Straw Hat Pirates were approaching it with their captain on the front, the strawhat turned his head around. "Zoro may be gone, but we're still strong enough. We'll make it just fine!", he reassured with a smile, raising the morale of his nakama. The future Pirate King really was a master at this.

…

"En Boshi!"

Along the way to Moriah, the marksman repeatedly kept shooting salt pellets into the mouths of zombies, purifying them. The shadows coming out of the zombies like a sticky, dense black fluid flying back to its owner looked disgusting to some of the Straw Hats.

"Keep it up, we should be there soon."

…

8 minutes later:

Moriah's large castle had been reached. The 360 Million Berry man easily located Gekko Moriah with his Observation haki and guided his nakama to the tower where he was relaxing.

Wanting to reveal his Gear Second, the rubber man turned around and looked at his nakama's faces. Then he activated Gear Second, his skin emitting steam and turning bright pink.

No exceptions, all Straw Hats turned wide-eyed through amazement. Their captain was incredible and nobody expected this transformation.

"I call it Gear Second.", Luffy explained, introducting his friends to the concept of Gears. "I fasten up my bloodstream and get this cool power. With Gear Second my speed and strength increases. Normally I'd die because it takes a toll on my body and heart but I'm rubber so nothing happens."

"Just… incredible…", the ginger muttered in disbelief, doubting that there's anyone in their path who'll seriously be a deadly threat for Luffy.

"And I thought the gap in power between me and him couldn't be any wider…", the long-nosed whined, looking comically depressed with a grey-blue aura around his head.

The Zoan seemed to be the most impressed. "Sugoi Luffy, so you can transform just like me!"

Turning around again, the black-haired stretched his hands to the back. "I don't need Gear Second for this but let's do it anyway. Gomu Gomu no Jet Bazooka!"

For every onlooker it looked like the 17-year-old's hands teleported to the tower's wall from behind before the entire tower was blasted off its foundation and landed far away in the waters of Thriller Bark. Moriah who saw the sky instead of the roof now freaked out and got onto his legs in record time. "The hell happened?!"

Schichibukai Moriah had light grey skin and was almost 7 meters tall. His belly was incredibly round, implying his laziness, and his overall body was almost full of former wounds. After seeing his sharp fangs, the coward trio got very intimitated and they ran to each other to hug in fear due to thinking Moriah was a vampire. Although they'd still hug each other without those fangs, because his overall appearance is nothing for the less brave anyway.

"Moriah, if you don't want your ass kicked right now, release all shadows!", the strawhat demanded, enraging the huge creature. A rookie pirate whom he'd barely heard of intruded his home and bothered him while he was relaxing.

"Damn you ant! I was just thinking about the revival of Special Zombie 900, I have no time for you!", the weakest Schichibukai barked, seriously considering to fight now that he's found a person with a very strong shadow. After shortly thinking about it again, the strawhat's nakama would be powerful additions to his zombie army too, so he decided to end this confrontation in an instant.

But it was the future Pirate King who made the first move. "Gomu Gomu no Jet Twin Pistol!"

One steaming pink rubber fist went against the large non-human, who quickly swapped places with a shadow doppelganger called Doppelman.

"Ha! Doppelm- ack!", Moriah shouted, getting hit hard in his belly after swapping with Doppelman. He was sent to the ground, blood coming out of his mouth. "How'd you predict that, you damn straw hat bastard?!", he roared, secretly afraid he wouldn't get to own the 360 Million Berry man's shadow.

"Did you forget about haki, you large dumbass?", the rubber man called, taunting Moriah's lazy ass and missing fighting prowess and knowledge. "Doesn't matter, I'll finish it now with this! Gomu Gomu no Jet Stamp!"

He jumped high in the air, then using his foot to push Moriah's body into the basement after connecting it with his upper belly. Luffy took extra good care so his nakama wouldn't be affected by the ground breaking in after the vampire-like shadow man was forced through it.

"Done, let's go and purify some more zombies.", the black-haired proposed, deactivating Gear Second.

Saying nothing, the Straw Hats with him followed their captain out of the tower ruins.

'What a freak. Toys with a Schichibukai.', Franky thought, lightly shaking his head.

…

On the other side of the island, right next to the smaller castle, the zombie Ryuma hosting Brook's shadow was stared at by Brook and Zoro.

"Oh, you've come back?", Ryuma asked, interested about the skeleton's power status. 5 years ago the zombie with the musician's shadow easily defeated the shadow's former owner.

"5 years ago I started training so I could get my shadow back!", Brook told the samurai, pulling out his cane sword. "For this second chance I've become stronger and I will not lose!"

As the skeleton already thrust his sword towards his opponent, the zombie pulled out his black katana Shusui as well and countered before he could be sliced in two. His sword was excuisite.

"Just like last time, not the afro?", Ryuma mocked, staring at the eyeless musician without eyes himself.

Gritting his teeth, Brook threw himself at the samurai again, looking angry. "I don't have time for jokes and mockery, I'll finish you off as soon as I can!"

The skillful zombie parried all of the skeleton's attacks without too much difficulty. "Yohohoho, you did become stronger, I'll acknowledge that.", he remarked, then suddenly executing an attack that the musician couldn't read. "But so did I, because shadows have the same personality as their master, which means I've strived to become more powerful just like you!"

Brook could barely defend against Ryuma's continuous strong attacks. "Not only am I more skilled than before, my body has always been stronger than yours!", the samurai lectured, knocking the skeleton into a wall. "Additionally I don't have such a large weak point like you, with your stupid afro!"

Standing back up, some of the musician's bones were broken due both the sword attacks as well as the crash into the wall.

"You treat your afro as so important, yet you can barely defend it from me.", the zombie taunted the weakened Brook.

Though him being weakened didn't mean him being unresolved. "Quiet!", the furious skeleton shouted, attacking his enemy again. "Yohooooooo!"

They clashed fiercely, and for some seconds they were on even ground. Of course, Ryuma was obviously stronger and lashed out against the musician again. "Uwaaah!"

"Yohoho!". The samurai was going for the afro. He originated from Wano kuni where the samurai are honourable, but being Moriah's subject made up for it with lots of dishonesty and dirty tricks.

"Leave the afro alone!", Brook desperately yelled, knowing he wouldn't win on his own.

A few more times did the skeleton get up and hopelessly defend, but in the end he traded not losing his afro for a defeat. Memories of Laboon and his old crew flashed through his mind, now that he had the feeling he could never get his shadow back and therefore never fulfill his promise to his beloved friend Laboon. 'There is nothing more I want than to apologize to you.', the musician thought, referring to Laboon. 'And this miserable, unfortunate me can't even do that. There is no more reason for me to live…'

He had given up hope, because he was not the one to defeat his biggest foe. But a certain Straw Hat Pirate was still there…

"Hey!"

Ryuma curiously turned his to the green-haired swordsman, aware that this one was stronger than Brook. Aware this battle would be far harder.

"The skeleton told me about you on the way here. You are the legendary samurai who slew the dragon.", he said, challenging the zombie to get further on his way to the greatest swordsman of the world. "Although I don't know if dragons really exist, now that I know you're alive, or at least partially, I can't not have a duel with you!"

Observing his opponent like a samurai, the zombie swordsman joined the conversation. "You and me, we are both samurai. Just like you, I am also eager on coming at you, but may I inquire first why you carry three blades?"

The 320 Million Berry man didn't really have a big explanation for it. "It's just my style", he spoke honestly, his eyes confirming that honesty.

"Yohoho, are you perhabs a circus performer?", Ryuma joked, mocking the swordstyle unknown to him.

Luckily for him, the first mate didn't need to get mad at this. "Say whatever you want about it, using it on a frail zombie like you would be overkill."

Brook thought Ryuma would get offended, though that was not the case. "Yohohoho!", the samurai laughed out, unsheathing his black blade. It was a sign to Zoro that a serious duel was on its way. "3 low quality swords are nothing compared to Shusui, a sword crafted in Wano kuni, land of the samurai, and one of the 21 Great Grade Swords.". The speech about Shusui was spoken with utmost pride. "Can you find a way to beat me with inferior swords? Because I don't think so!"

Zoro's thoughts were mixed, like a cup of vanilla ice cream with hot raspberry sauce. He wasn't visibly angry on the outside, nor was he losing his mind due to rage. Calm as ever, but with a difference. That so-called 'lecture' of the zombie samurai pissed him off because of the nonsense and arrogance spouted by his foe. It was his time to prove him wrong. The green-haired glared at Ryuma, eyes bloodshot. "Seems like you don't understand anything about swordsmanship!", the swordsman stated, unsheathing Wado Ichimonji and Sandai Kitetsu. "Now I'll only use two blades and weaken myself to teach you one thing right. A good sword is obviously better than a bad sword, but just owning a good sword doesn't make you a better swordsman. It's all about the sword style, do you understand?"

Ryuma liked that temperament, his eyes, if he had any, would be just as bloodshot.

"I desire to become the world's best swordman.", the 320 Million Berry man continued in a firm tone. "And while I don't need your sword since I already have 3 perfectly functioning swords myself, I know that becoming the greatest swordsman is not a playground task, so I'm gonna take your sword for myself, since the best swordsmen use the best swords. Yeah, I'm gonna take it."

Beside him, there was only a zombie and a skeleton in hearable range. His badassery moved away the musician's thoughts about Laboon and replaced them with awe. And the samurai's awe exploded in an ambitious way.

"Very well…", Ryuma began, slowly raising the volume and hype of his voice, "I now feel excitement at levels I cannot recall! It's this pulsing, incredible anticipation of fighting you, it's so much I'm not even sure I can finish my sentence. If you fail to give me a good fight, I will let you suffer in the most pai-"

True to his prediction, Ryuma couldn't even finish his sentence. He jumped at the first mate who reacted accordingly and intercepted the deadly blade with his own. The former Wano samurai was consumed by adrenaline, and Zoro would make sure to get his own dose of excitement as well.

Shockwaves were the result of the very first clash. The air was filled with sparks and intensity. Brook's jaw dropped at the sight of their faces, they looked like lustful warmongering demons. 'Whoa, nearly shit myself there! Although I'm a skeleton, yoh-'

"Aubade Coup Droit!", the zombie called, thrusting his sword forward like a fencing saber. The resulting compressed air blast sweeped just past the green-haired's head, and hit the castle's stone wall. A round portion of the wall was blasted off inside, it looked like a circular window was there.

"He just fired a gun?!", the skeleton exclaimed, deeply shocked about the former Wano samurai's true strength. "It never came out the same way when I did that technique!"

Just split-seconds later a clean cut went through that hole, coming out of nowhere, implying the attack was made before.

"Really?! That Zoro guy must've countered Ryuma's attack at the same time! And his slashes can fly too…". Brook truly was flabbergasted and learned how much stronger the Straw Hat first mate was, despite being about 70 years younger and having less experience.

The next clash between the two swordsmen couldn't wait, they took no breaks.

"Prelude: Au Fer!", the zombie shouted, trying to destroy the 320 Million Berry man's swords with an extra hard strike.

'Unbelievable, he's so strong I have to protect my swords with haki!', Zoro realized, coating them with a certain protective power. "Nigiri: Hirameki Maguma!", he yelled, striking back at Ryuma to show him he can do the same thing.

Shusui was naturally strong, so it wouldn't break. But the samurai got the message and switched tactics. At first he kept the green-haired busy by trying to stab his body with short thrusts. Then he went to the offensive, announcing his true attack. "Gavotte Bond en Avant!"

Thanks to his Observation haki, dodging the approaching Ryuma was a piece of cake. Even though they were physically comparable, the first mate clearly had the advantage of haki, so in the end he would turn the tides. "Nanajuuni Pound Ho!", the 320 Million Berry man exclaimed, hitting the zombie spot on.

Showing pain during a battle was a bad move, so Ryuma decided to stay quiet about it and jumped onto the castle's tower. But Zoro wouldn't just let him go like that, so he followed with an equally impressive jump.

Now that the two warring samurai were on top of a tower, things would only get more spectacular to look at for an onlooking musician.

Ryuma was pushed to his limits. The green-haired swordsman was fully aware of that, so he stayed ready for the zombie's absolute best. Without a word, he rushed at the 320 Million Berry man and clashed with him, swords clanging loudly. Each part of the clash felt approved from the soul. For the first mate it wasn't extremely difficult, but sweat of battle energy and euphoria poured out of his skin.

There were three seperate major clashes, each lasting over a minute. The skillsets were all unique, the emotions however were the same. And when the hype couldn't get any higher and when there was a risk of the battle becoming drawn-out, they both simultaneously decided to go for the finisher, it was time.

"Hanauta Sancho: Yahazu Giri!", Ryuma roared, determined on providing his foe an honourable death for pleasing him that much in battle.

Zoro was not having any of this, so he responded with an even greater final attack. "Ittoryu: Hiryu: Kaen!", the green-haired called, slashing his opponent's lower torso with all might after leaping high into the air. Additionally to the zombie samurai going up in flames, the roof section of the tower was cleanly cut in half, serving as the ultimate fanservice for the best fight Brook had ever witnessed.

Despite having gone up in red hot flames, Ryuma landed on his feet like a true warrior. "I lost. ***pant*** ", he admitted like a man, offering his fine sword to the victor. "With Shusui, the great sword once carried by a legendary samurai you should be satisfied. ***pant*** "

"It was a great match…", Ryuma continued, his voice full of regret, "but I have allowed this samurai's body to suffer defeat when you didn't even get close to your full strength… I am deeply ashamed!"

As a proud swordsman himself, the 320 Million Berry man understood what his opponent went through. The least he could do was making sure the loser wouldn't suffer more than defeat. "As long as you're ashamed, that's enough.", the Straw Hat Pirates first mate comforted, picking up Shusui including the sheath. "You are a swordsman in mind and body, I would've liked to meet you when you were alive."

Zoro's honesty and valuable lesson made him smile, though the flames covered his entire head so said smile was barely visible. And by that time, the fire took its toll and reduced the samurai's undead body to ash.

The passing of his greatest rival so far was meaningful in two ways for the skeleton. Of course, before anything else, he got his shadow back and was freed of Moriah's influence. Although he loudly celebrated this, the body of Ryuma, who to him probably was a good person in life, got destroyed forever. So in the end he inwardly felt bad for the recently deceased samurai.

"I am taking your sword, samurai of Wano kuni.", the swordsman stated in a respectful manner, smiling, paying some extra respect in his next sentence. "Let's just pretend this match never happened."

…

After defeating Moriah, the remaining Straw Hats purified every zombie crossing their path. Their destination was the smaller castle, that of Doctor Hogback.

"We're almost at the front door, what kind of zombies are inside, do you think?", Usopp asked, afraid the zombies inside could be surprise objects like paintings and suits of armor.

"I just hope they aren't concentrated around the entire castle.", Nami replied, wanting to be done with the zombie exorcism as fast as possible.

The small castle was just the size of a large mansion, but there could be rooms on lower floors, they thought.

Luffy stretched his hand forward to open the door from afar. This action didn't spare them too much time, but it was a nice and handy showcase.

As soon as the Straw Hat Pirates entered, all the surprise zombies revealed themselves, trying to act scary. A bad move, since the long-nosed shot numerous salt pellets into their mouths.

"Aahaha, Suuuuuuuuuupeeeeeeer!", Franky cheered, striking his pose. "They don't even get a second, it's all as quick as a walk in the park."

By chance, the cyborg accidently touched a wall to his left. Following that, a mechanism behind it turned the wall around, the wall pushing him to the other side. His nakama realized in split-seconds there are many secret passages on Thriller Bark.

"It's locked.", Sanji informed, unable to open the secret passage like the blue-haired.

"What should we do about Franky?", Chopper asked, concerned about them getting seperated.

"Gomu Gomu no Pistol!", the black-haired announced, just crashing the wall in.

"Very straightforward.", Robin remarked, unsure whether to smile and giggle a little or stay without a definite expression.

"Mhm", the remaining nakama let out, sweatdropping at how true it was. At times, their captain could be doing the simplest, yet smartest thing at the same time depending on the situation.

Meanwhile, the pervert with a screwdriver in his right hand frowned, smiling. "Haha, I was just trying to unblock the wall, how funny."

"Anyways, there are stairs up there.", the navigator told, pointing at it with her left index finger. "We should walk up these."

They silently agreed, moving up by one floor. 15 seconds later, an open door was visible. It was mostly silent, but they knew at least one person was in there. So they took a peek inside.

Since every one of them wanted to take a look, Dr. Hogback's favourite zombie Victoria Cindry noticed the pirates.

"Hogback-sama, there are intruders at the door.", she reported free of emotion, putting down the cup of tea she was drinking on a table.

"Ah!", Hogback reacted, trying to hide the dead body, a 'mario' how he calls them, he was working on under a blanket trying to hide it. Though that was useless, since everyone spying had already seen them, including the reindeer who used to admire him. Used.

That was the reason he stepped forward first. His hat was putting shadows on his eyes. "Dr. Hogback, so that's where you came to after disappearing from the public.", the brown-furred spat, disappointment in his voice. "Creating zombies, eh? I don't care what you're going to say to defend yourself, because you're no longer a doctor to me!"

"Fosfosfos!", Moriah's subordinate laughed, not caring about the blue-nosed's rant. "I suppose you're a doctor like me, right? I don't get why you're so upset, I'm just trying to benefit humanity by experimenting in order to achieve eternal life. And it's a success! Look at my zombies, they can move, are self-aware and can therefore live. There isn't much that's seperating them from humans, and it's all thanks to my genius mind and the power of Master Moriah!"

"Wrong!", the Zoan called, heavily disagreeing with his former idol. "They may be self-aware and move, but that doesn't make them human! Zombies are slaves to their master, their only goal is to fulfill orders, they don't have a free mind like humans. And then there's the fact that it takes an innocent person's shadow to create a zombie, like that of our friend Brook. That's why zombies are monsters instead of humans and you are a fraud instead of a doctor!"

"Ech, you're getting ridiculous!", the strange man returned, annoyed that a 'lesser doctor' like the Zoan user was talking to him like that. "Everyone has at least one person that he wants alive in this world. Who cares if the zombies are bound to their master's orders, that's not the problem here! You sound like one of those morons who think it's heresy to research life and death."

"What you're saying is so unbelievably wrong!", Chopper stated, putting his palm on his forehead as a sign of disappointment. "My friends and I would rather die than become zombies, since that's basically slavery. What I'm saying still stands, you can't change my mind."

"Well if you're gonna stay this ignorant you might as well become a mario for me. Cindry-chan, kill him!", Hogback ordered, actually expecting her to win.

"Let me free you from your misery.", the Straw Hat doctor said, sounding extremely serious and mature. "Usopp, Robin."

The two knew what the reindeer wanted. With her Hana Hana powers, the Oharan restrained the female zombie, and the sniper purified her with a salt shot.

Hogback's love for Cindry had a long history and deep root. When he saw her slowly dropping on the ground, vomiting a shadow, he quickly went down on his knees to catch her from the fall. "Cindry no!", he shouted, tears leaking down. "The only thing I really loved…"

"You didn't love her, you wanted to use her!", the blue-nosed spoke, infuriating the weird doctor greatly.

"You bastard, you… You deserve everyth-", he was screaming, but not for long.

"The only thing you deserve is this. Cho Suplex!"

In a suplex move, the brown-furred grabbed the person he formerly admired, and slammed his head on the ground. Hogback's head wasn't quite crushed, but he suffered heavy injuries and would stay knocked out for a long time.

During the entire argument between the doctors, no one else interfered. They knew it wasn't their field to argue, and it served as development for the Zoan user so he could stand his ground maturely more frequently in the future. For quite some time, it was the Zoan's first time to really shine, so nobody wanted to ruin it. Just one thing was clear and common amongst the spectators. Inside their heads, they were amazed and impressed how it should be. 'Wow'

After this encounter, the only place on the island ship untouched by the Straw Hat Crew was Perona's area.

…

"Oh, there you are!", Brook called, meeting the Straw Hats outside Hogback's lab. That terrace was the one little place separating Hogback's area from Perona's area, starting with Perona's wondergarden, a bridge filled with her personal zombies leading to the large castle where also Moriah's area was. Moriah's area and Perona's area were on the opposite sides of the large castle.

"The skeleton's got his shadow back.", Zoro informed with a grin, happy to see his crew again.

"And you got a new sword.", the 17-year-old pointed out, his first mate proud of the realization.

"Say Zoro, what are you going to do with your fourth sword? I don't think you can use it in battle.", the orange-haired curiously asked, knowing he never trained with 4 swords.

"I'm just gonna replace Yubashiri and make it a spare sword.", the green-haired explained, tilting his head.

"Yosh!", the strawhat exclaimed, looking forward to make use of the reunion. "I'm sensing all of the remaining zombies in front of us, let's finish this!"

"Oh and by the way", the skeleton added, about to tell important information. "On our way here we met a bunch of humans who had their shadows stolen. Most of them have them back, but they want to show themselves later so they don't distract us while we take out the remaining zombies."

"Good to know.", the future Pirate King quickly spoke, before walking forward in order to lead his nakama and future nakama towards the beginning of Perona's wondergarden, to the sighting range of her zombies.

Like a vengeful army, the adventurous pirates stood in a formation in front of the last zombies of Thriller Bark. To the Straw Hats' surprise, they also were placed in a formation, standing protective in front of their female master. "Horohorohoro!", Perona laughed, mocking and ridiculing her opponents. "You halfwits, didn't you feel observed by ghost all the time? You didn't think I knew about everything, right? Horohorohoro, how pathetic!"

The sharpshooter narrowed his eyes, he thought those statements were utterly stupid. "We didn't think you knew about everything since we didn't even know you in the first place, stupid!"

"Horohorohorohoro! Do you think you're funny? Zombies, get him!". The pink-haired didn't like smartasses that much, and she thought the marksman was one.

Three wild zombies resembling animals ran up to Usopp. The zombies expected him to freak out and lose control of his slingshot, though they were already at the long-nosed's mercy when they thought that. "En Boshi!"

Those salt pellets purified the animal zombies, no miss. Now the ghost princess became aware of the shiper's skills, thus leading to her wish of not losing more of her zombies. "You won't be doing this for long! Negative Hollow!", she shouted, attempting to take out the sharpshooter with her most effective attack.

A pair of spooky ghosts floated out of Perona, targeting the marksman. Strange hovering sounds were made by them although they were intangible. The reason the negative hollows were intangible is because they phase inside their target and make them lose their will after implanting negative thoughts.

As the negative hollows went through Usopp, the pink-haired made an evil smile, looking forward to see her enemy on his knees. Very surprisingly for both sides, nothing happened to the long-nosed at all.

"Why're you still standing on your feet?!", the ghost princess shouted in confusion, eyes widening. "You're supposed to be all negative and on the ground!"

"Hah!", the sniper let out, widely smirking and pointing at himself, standing tall and proud. "Jokes on you, I'm already negative!"

And as if the girl didn't just widen her eyes in disbelief, she literally made the Enel face, king of all expressions. This particular look caused her zombies to gape in disbelief and the Straw Hats to chuckle.

Being the only one not chuckling, Robin took advantage of it. "May I have some salt?", she asked, addressing the musician. He immediately understood why the Oharan wanted that salt, so he loosened the rope tying the salt bag.

Sprouting many hands, the archaeologist first picked up many handfuls of salt, then distributed said mineral to the other hands she silently sprouted on the zombies. To increase the effect of surprise manyfold, the 289 Million Berry woman didn't say a single thing, instead letting her friends chuckle at one more thing.

In an instant all the zombies were purified and vomited their shadows. Perona had her own Enel face still going on when she saw the various shadows leaving her subordinates, but the second the pink-haired saw her favourite 'pet' Kumashi as a lifeless body, she screamed in horror and sped all the way to his corpse.

"Kumashiiii, no! How dare you!", the ghost princess yelled, making it obvious she had emotional bonds to her favourite zombie that she's sometimes too strict with when it comes to talking.

Contrary to going berserk on the chuckling pirates, the liar shrugging Negative Hollow off like nothing standing in the front, the girl instead knelt down and proceeded to cry. "Boohoo, Kumashi! It can't get worse from now on, can it?"

Ironically enough, the moment her sentence ended Bartholomew Kuma teleported on the island, right next to the extremely saddened Perona.

The colossal Pacifista Shichibukai stepped forward two times, eyeing the largely empty Thriller Bark, no Gekko Moriah and the obvious zombie slayers. "It seems I've arrived late, too damn late.", the bear-like man observed in a calm, deep voice. Coincidentally, the large man also stepped on Kumashi's corpse with his big, round shoes, infuriating the emotionally unstable pink-haired even further.

"Where do _you_ think you're stepping, you big dumbass?!", the ghost princess angrily complained, not caring about how much more powerful Kuma was. "Coming out of nowhere and then not doing anything to stop the intruders, but more importantly I'm not going to let you get away with defiling Kumashi! Negative Ghos-"

 **Poof!**

Brook and every Straw Hat saw it clearly. The Paw man slapped Perona and she instantly disappeared. The cowardly trio got terrified really fast, and even stronger crewmates and the skeleton were frightened.

"What the hell did he do?!", the swordsman snapped out, exchanging worried glances with the cook.

"Hold on guys, this is Bartholomew Kuma, another member of the Shichibukai!", the 28-year-old told, signalizing the others to stay cautious. "He's called 'The Tyrant' due to being the most violent Shichibukai according to his reputation. His former bounty is 296 Million Berry!"

"Strawhat Luffy, I've been ordered to take your head.", the former Revolutionary announced, worrying the weaker Straw Hats due to him appearing to be far stronger than Moriah judged on his ability and calmness.

For being the only calm one beside the not-so-expressionate Kuma, the 360 Million Berry man had a damn good and fitting response. "You're coming to arrest me here, when I've already beaten Moriah, when I have my crew beside me, and when I haven't sweat once since I've set foot on Thriller Bark? Try at Sabaody instead, you'll probably have better luck there."

Since it was his duty to stay stoic and serious, the original Pacifista sadly couldn't smile at that. He found the rubber man's response extremely funny. 'Your son is a real jokester Dragon.'

"You are right, Strawhat, I can't change facts.", Kuma said, perplexing the remaining Straw Hat Crew. The so-called most violent Shichibukai made their captain look like the most capable diplomat ever. "I shall expect you at Sabaody."

"…"

"…"

"…"

Like in rare cases before, the Straw Hats were petrified by Luffy's to them unexplainable genius mind. Brook was quiet as well, though more of being impressed, since he didn't know the black-haired too well.

Finally, 12 seconds later, the awkward silence was broken by awkward victory cries. "Yeaaaaaaaaaah!", a horde of pirates shouted, approaching their saviours by running. "You saved us, let's party!"

"Wait!", the 17-year-old exclaimed, sounding and looking very serious. "I can sense one more zombie, one more. And it's… HERE!"

He sidestepped as fast as he could, since a pink zombie boar in a wedding dress would have landed on top of him. Said unique zombie crashed into the ground, leaving a wide crater. Once the undead body climbed out, the sharpshooter was the one the female zombie faced. A quick look lasting less than a second was enough to freak out the marksman. "Begone!"

After receiving a salt shot in her large mouth, the big-lipped pink zombie stopped hosting the shadow belonging to another big-lipped person. Few seconds later, a round woman with a comparably big head to a short neck and even bigger lips followed the large group of male pirates. "Captain Lola!", they shouted, grateful to see their captain back with a shadow. Lola was a relaxed captain, so all they had to do was waiting for her to arrive so they could throw a party.

However, the first thing Lola did when she came close to the Straw Hats was thanking them instead of just announcing a party. "Thank you very much for saving us.", she spoke in a respectful manner, bowing. "Without you we'd still be stuck on this island unable to see the sun again. You have our eternal thanks. Let us have a banquet to celebrate, and then we can give you treasure."

"Sounds good.", the strawhat replied, then turning his attention to Sanji. "Saaaaaanji! I've just realized I'm hungry!"

Instead of getting annoyed, the blond merely exhaled some air, making a nonchalant expression. "I mean, all of this wasn't really a concern of ours, but it's a complete success, so I'm okay with that."

"Party! Party!", random pirates kept shouting, influencing the Straw Hats into party mood.

…

The kitchen and storage room of Moriah's castle had lots and lots of beverage and edibles for the Vinsmoke to make delicacies of.

Nami was sitting next to Lola, becoming friends with her. "Hahahahahahaha! I like you!", the navigator declared, drinking more than just a few beers. Initially, the only thing the orange-haired wanted was talking about Thriller Bark treasures. While her crew had more than enough valuables in terms of gold bars and paper money, the treasures Lola gifted them had beautiful gems all over them. Over time, the ginger and Big Mom's least favourite daughter changed to other topics and found out they could relate to each other.

Lola herself wasn't enduring the alcohol as much as Nami, which lead to her giving away her things. In this case though, she would've given it sometime later anyway. "Hey Nami, I wanna give you some Vivre Cards.", the Rolling Pirates' captain raved half drunk, pulling out a Vivre Cards, displaying it and then handing it to her new friend. "This Vivre Card belongs to my mother, a real great New World pirate. If you guys wanna go to the New World it might help you."

The fact that Lola's mother was indeed a very powerful New World pirate was shockingly surprising for the navigator. "Whoa! Did you ever go to the New World yourself?", the orange-haired asked, curious about both her friend's experiences as well as information that could be valuable.

"I wasn't just there, I was born there.", the Charlotte revealed.

"Oh, that's nice.", the ginger spoke, nodding. "Want some more sake?"

"Yes sure!"

…

Some time later, Brook announced he'd play Binks' Sake. Everyone cheered, and as that happened the future Pirate King walked over to the skeleton, preparing to make him the ninth Straw Hat. "You, Brook, I like this song very much. Why don't you become my nakama?"

Despite understanding all the good intent, the musician stayed loyal to his cause. "About this, I haven't told you my entire story.", Brook explained, hoping the 360 Million Berry man would understand. "50 years ago, I met a lost baby whale together with my crew in West Blue. We liked him and named him Laboon. Once we had to go to the Grand Line we couldn't take care of him anymore so we tried to leave him. He followed us over Reverse Mountain though, so we had to ask a man called Crocus to look after him. We promised Laboon we'd come back, unfortunately enemy pirates and sickness wiped out my entire crew, me aswell hadn't I eaten my Yomi Yomi no mi. Laboon's favourite song was Binks' Sake, and before we died we recorded his beloved song one last time on a tone dial I bought long time ago. I'm sorry, but I can't join you before I fulfill the Rumbar Pirates' last mission."

Having come closer, all Straw Hats besides Nami listened to the skeleton's sad story and goal. Even those Straw Hats who never met Laboon before understood the deepness of this final goal. It was a truly noble goal Brook made for himself, which was what made Franky weep and wail in tears.

"Are… you… serious…", the trio of Sanji, Usopp and Zoro let out in disbelief, amazed and envious of such a manly resolve.

"Shishishi!", the rubber man laughed, smiling brightly at Brook's face. "You're an amazing guy besides a good musician, that's why I want you. Anyways, be reassured, on our way to the Grand Line we met Laboon and Crocus ourselves, they're both fine and waiting for you."

This information was a new light for the skeleton who had to endure 49 long years alone on a ghost ship. A negative side thought of Laboon being dead has been on his mind for many years, this was the best relief in his life. Slowly, tears began building up themselves at the musician's eye sockets. "Laboon...", he uttered out full of gratitude, "he- he's s-still waiting for me over there?! Are you telling me the truth?!"

Every East Blue Straw Hat listening to Brook nodded, testifying the truth. "Yes, he's there and well."

"That's good to hear!", the skeleton exclaimed, overflowing with happiness. "How big is he?"

"Our old ship was smaller than his eye.", Luffy answered, making the musician capable of understanding the dimension of Laboon's adult size.

"Yohoho! I really want to see him, because at the time we parted, he was just the size of a small ship. So adorable!", Brook told, being fond of the whale like a proud mother. "He wasn't well disciplined but he loved music, such a good boy! Even now when I close my eyes I see images of him being happy."

Even though the skeleton obviously didn't have eyes to close, for two reasons he left out his skull jokes. Firstly, it was unfitting at the time, and secondly he broke up in tears of joy seconds later.

"WUUUUHAAAA *sob*! This is really awwwwwesome! So he is actually living and well!", the musician cried, happy about the turning point of his life. He would join the Straw Hat Pirates and make sure to hold his promise.

His crying would lessen soon, then he was just as interested in playing Binks' Sake on the piano as everyone else.

"Yohohoho~ Yohohoho~~ Yohohoho~ Yohohoho~~ Yohohoho~ Yohohoho~~ Yohohoho~ Yohohoho~~! Going to deliver Binks' sake!~ Following the sea breeze! Riding on the waves!~ Far across the salty depths! The merry evening sun!~ The birds sing as they draw circles in the sky!~ Farewell to the harbor, To my old hometown~ Lets all sing out with a Don! As the ship sets sail~ Waves of gold and silver dissolve to salty spray~ As we all set sail to the ends of the sea~ Going to deliver Binks' Sake!~ We are pirates sailing through the Sea!~ The waves are our pillows, The ship our roost~ Flying the proud skull on our flags and our sails~ Now comes a storm through the far-off sky~ Now the waves are dancing, Beat upon the drums~ If you lose your nerve this breath could be your last~ But if you just hold on, The morning sun will rise~ Yohohoho~ Yohohoho~~ Yohohoho~ Yohohoho~~ Going to deliver Binks' Sake!~ Today, and tomorrow, our dreams through the night!~ Waving our goodbyes, we'll never meet again!~ But don't look so down, For tomorrow night the moon will also rise!~ Going to deliver Binks' Sake!~ Let's all sing it with a Don! A song of the waves~ Doesn't matter who you are, Someday you'll just be bones~ Never-Ending, Ever-wandering, Our funny Traveling tale!~ Yohohoho~ Yohohoho~~ Yohohoho~ Yohohoho~~"

And so, the night was an especially fun night, even for the Straw Hats which experienced many other awesome parties.

…

Next morning everything went quickly. Both the Straw Hat Pirates and the Rolling Pirates leaving Thriller Bark, previously deserted by Hogback, Absalom and Moriah on an escape ship. Especially the Rolling Pirates wanted to leave the Florian Triangle as soon as possible.

After saying their goodbyes, the Straw Hats needed a good time to finally reach stable waters, since even outside the stormy Florian Triangle there were storms and deadly currents. Needless to say, a surprisingly short amount of time was needed for Brook to socialize with the rest of his new crew. And even though he was good friends with his new nakama now, many things were unknown and confusing to him.

Suddenly, the Den Den Mushi ringed. All Straw Hats gathered around the transponder snail, wondering who Luffy'd talk to.

"Hello?", the black-haired asked, expecting a familiar voice.

"Hey Luffy, it's urgent!", Sabo on the other line yelled into the phone, signalizing he was seriously upset with his voice. "Where are you now?"

"Oh, hey Sabo, you sound really upset, what happened?", the 17-year-old inquired, acting like he didn't know Ace was captured. "I'm like a week or so away from Sabaody Archipelago."

"Blackbeard, that bastard! He defeated Ace, captured him and turned him in to the damn Marines! And if the last thing wasn't enough, he told them who he REALLY was!". The blond brother was burning from anger. "And now he's scheduled to be executed!"

'As scum as you can get!', the strawhat furiously thought, referring to the rat Blackbeard. "Are you serious?!"

"Sadly, I am!", the 450 Million Berry man confirmed, stating his seriousness in every letter. "You told me you're a week away from Sabaody, right? Just stay fine until then, I'm there right now and will fill you in on the plan to save our bro. Let's hang up before the World Government wiretaps us."

"Understood.", the future Pirate King spoke, sounding just as serious. "Take care."

Finally, the 360 Million Berry man gathered all of his nakama before the timeskip. Since they were all together in a room, it was a good opportunity to tell them the truth. By switching his attention to something else, he accidently let the earpiece slip off and land on the table.

"Luffy, you didn't hang up.", the joint 2nd Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates reminded, his younger brother still ignoring him.

"Are you okay, Luffy?", Sanji asked, worrying about his captain's emotional status. He knew his brother had a big worth to him, so maybe the news of execution hit him hard he thought.

"Was your brother really captured?", Chopper asked, remembering how strong Ace looked.

The rubber man frowned, wiping sweat off his face. "He was, but it's not too much of a shock. The Whitebeards will take on the Marines and I'll help them, we'll absolutely save Ace."

Sabo still heard this and couldn't believe it. His brother said he wasn't shocked about it. Now it was evident that this person was not the brother he knew, nothing could change his mind.

"If a Yonko attacks, the World Government will mobilize the entire Marine force, are you sure they can win?", Robin questioned, knowing about the danger of the Marines, especially the Admirals.

"They will, because I'll help them with all my might.", the black-haired affirmed, not forgetting to provide explanations to erase doubt. "I know you'll ask how, so I'll explain it all from the beginning. I'll explain something I wanted to explain since we were at this point of our journey. Seriously, be warned, some truths could hit you hard."

All the Straw Hats gulped. They were standing in a half-circle around their captain, nervous. The intensity of this all was beyond their expectation. The brother on Sabaody listened too, suspiciously and cautiously.

"Robin already knows, now you others will know too. We've already been here once."

Logically, this didn't make sense to the crewmembers other than Robin. The 450 Million Berry man questioned this statement too, more heavily than others. 'Damn it Luffy, what're you implying?', everyone unaware of the complete story thought, almost trembling.

"What?!", Zoro spouted out, raising his right brow very high. "How can you say that, what the fuck do you mean?"

Breathing in, the 17-year-old tried to stay as calm as possible. There was a big risk of a heavy fight, one that could split the crew.

"With that, I don't mean the current timeline, I mean an old timeline you don't know of. In my past life, you were my nakama just like now. But something terrible happened before I could become Pirate King. I'll just say that we're all fortunate a surviving friend of mine had the Time-Time fruit. I think you can all guess what I mean."

"Timetravel?!", Nami exclaimed in utter disbelief, thinking such couldn't be of possibility. "Impossible, you've got to be kidding!"

"Wait a second!", Usopp yelled out, coming to a conclusion. "Don't tell me you've acted all the way from the beginning to 'fix past mistakes'!"

"Everything's so confusing, yohoho!". The skeleton was clearly the most confused due to not knowing the captain as long the others. That is partly the reason he was the most accepting of this besides the Oharan.

For the most part, the cook remained pretty calm. If it wasn't for the one thing he wanted an answer for immediately. "Okay, I guess you acted this way in order to protect us, I can accept that, but why the hell didn't you tell us earlier? We're pretty far into the Grand Line, if we knew about this earlier we would've been more prepared."

That question from the blond was deserving an answer. So thought the strawhat, an answer on the way. "Listen up, this is for the bond of us. The reason I didn't tell you earlier is split in two. Would you believe me if I told you about this when we barely met? More importantly, I waited so all of you would form a family-like bond, so you would be together and not separated in loyalty. You're all loyal to each other now, so I couldn't think for a better time to reveal my secret. Robin is an exception, she had her own problems. But you understand why she had problems, right? So just as you understand her, please understand me. I'm begging you."

Silence and open mouths. A few sentences with good points was enough to stop the division between the nakama. No one doubted that the Straw Hat captain truly loved his nakama. Keeping this a secret was for their good, not for his. And the Whitebeard Pirate's respect for his sworn brother increased exponentially. Though the intellect of the Luffys he knew was entirely different, they had the same loving heart. There was no need at all for the 450 Million Berry man to add his own opinion, he silently hung up on his Den Den Mushi instead. If he had any questions, he'd just ask on the Archipelago. He felt like it was his duty to let him have a lovely day with his own nakama.

"I'm sorry if your opinion on me has changed, I really am.", the future Pirate King said, taking off his captain's coat. He'd do anything to fix relations with his closest friends imaginable.

But as everyone knows, you can't fix what ain't broke. "Are you joking Luffy, if anything I love you even more bro!", Franky corrected, smirking nicely.

"I agree.", the archaeologist began, smiling. "You've raised our affection for you to a new level."

"Aww, you guys…". The 360 Million Berry man was so touched he'd almost shed happy tears. "Let's hug!"

At rapid speeds, every nakama ran into the rubber man's arms, participating in the warm, minutes-lasting hug. Although they understood they died in Luffy's past life, it did not diminish their morale. At the contrary! Now they had more reasons and resolve to keep each other safe and get stronger to avoid all threats able to dent their unity.

* * *

 **SORRY! SORRY! SORRY! I know damn well I haven't updated for months, and when you'll be reading this I will have changed the summary as well. A hiatus after long chapterless months is bad, but I sadly can't take my laptop to the summer holidays with me. The reason why I couldn't update is pretty much the same, no time. I had an internship for a week, participated in a student exchange program for 2 weeks, went to the gym regularly and got myself a permanent minijob (if that's how it's called in english, not my primary language). And even after summer holidays I don't know if I can update like the old times, I'm supposed to study even harder and think of founding my own company with some friends. Can you tell me what I should do? Because even if I can't catch up to the manga, I want to at least get past the timeskip. All help is welcome. Constructive criticism allowed. Rate and reply if you want.**


	30. C30: Grand Turbulence

**Never again!**

 **Hello again my dear readers! As most of you most likely missed my story, I can say that I missed all of you. So how about a nice new chapter with lots to cover and a good amount of story advance?**

 **Note: Since Sanji's ephitet is 'Flame Leg' in this story don't be confused when Duval addresses him differently than you remember.**

 **Another Note: As One Piece progresses Oda reveals the correct spelling of place and character names. Coby and Mariejois are words of the past, I'm not using them anymore.**

 **Answer to Bloody Rogue dragon deity king:** **I'm sorry but I just don't like the idea.**

* * *

 **Chapter 30: Grand Turbulence**

After about one week of sailing the sea, the first grand fruits of their hard work became visible. The Straw Hats made it far enough to feast their eyes upon the Red Line, meaning they made it halfway through.

"It's such a deep feeling.", Nami said, referring to both her adventures and improvement as navigator.

"That day it was raining fiercely.", Sanji began, remembering the time the rode up Reverse Mountain, an important part of the Red Line.

"We've grown a lot since then.", Zoro finished for Sanji, meaning their strength and experience alike.

"It took me 50 years, yohohoho!", Brook joked, still more than glad he actually made it this far unlike his old crew.

"I can't see the top!", Chopper spoke, amazed by the size of it. It was the first time he'd seen something so massive. "It's huge!". And beside that, the top of the Red Line was covered in clouds.

"I feel like crying." Usopp uttered, actually crying. "So much has happened…". Indeed, it took them many months to reach this place.

"As far as I can remember, I went over Reverse Mountain from South Blue.", Franky told, remembering his real parents were pirates. "But that was over 30 years ago."

"5 years ago I came to this sea from West Blue.", Robin informed, fascinated about how time was flying.

Now it was Luffy's turn to do the honours. He was already standing on top of Sunny's figurehead, his right hand resting on his straw hat while his captain's coat was fluttering gracefully in the sun. "When I come to this place once again after another turn around the world, I will be…", he started calm and slowly, preparing for the final part, "THE PIRATE KING!"

…

It was resting time for the Straw Hats. Party on board and the little swimming pool. Sunny wasn't going anywhere. As known as a fact, sea monsters can perceive ships with a Kairoseki bottom that stay on the same spot very long. This is why a Sea Rabbit attacked the Grand Sunny.

That attack was a failure, not only did the sea monster have a body smaller than Sunny, but the ship's captain knew what to do, remembering the last time he punched it.

"Gomu Gomu no Rifle!"

His nakama had seen too many sea monsters to be scared, the Sea Rabbit also wasn't even a Sea King.

"Dobeuh!", the ocean bunny let out, the hard hit resulting in two beings being thrown up by the aquatic mammal hybrid. As the two earlier victims of it were in the air, the Sea Rabbit fell on its back, then proceeding to leave.

Once the silhouettes of Keimi and Pappug, the clumsy pair of Fishman Island citizens were visible, the Straw Hats began to express their reactions.

"It spat something out, must be a fish.", the cook guessed, wondering what kind of dinner he could prepare around the following few days depending on what fish.

"No, it's a person!", the long-nosed shouted, terrified that a person was eaten and survived. At that moment Keimi barely came closer but he saw human features and movements on the silhouette.

And as the mermaid fell closer from the air, they all saw how she had both fish and human traits. Having wanted to witness such a being in person, the blond's wish came true and his eyes shot out as pink hearts. "It- It can't be~", he shouted of full joy. That joy held on and continued after the mermaid fell directly on him.

"Kyaaaah!"

"Nuaaah!", the 154 Million Berry man exclaimed on the floor, happy it was him on whom the legendary beautiful sea creature fell.

Immediately after falling, Keimi started to get up, breathing heavily. She kind of appeared calm, until she realized she knocked the Vinsmoke on the ground. "Wah! I flattened a human!", the green-haired mermaid exclaimed, making her own weird expression on her face.

"I'm sorry, are you okay?", Keimi asked worriedly, holding Sanji's shoulders as he sat up.

"It's okay, don't worry. What about you?", Sanji asked back, his eyes shaped like hearts. He thought he was very lucky, even luckier due to the fact a beautiful mermaid cared about his well-being.

Now that the commotion was over, the other Straw Hats were able to have their share of new reactions. "A tail and fin…"

"It can't be! A real…", Nami continued in a surprised manner, not believing she'd get to see a mermaid outside of Fishman Island.

"Mermaid!", almost every Straw Hat shouted in awe, some mouths, in particular Brook's, agape.

Just again Keimi put on her special weird face. "Waaaah! I'm surprised, there are a lot of humans!"

Similar to Dr. Kureha, seconds later the mermaid completely changed her expression. "Thank you very much for saving me before I was digested! I'm easily eaten by marine animals, this is the 20th time.", she thanked smiling, showing the others her clumsiness. "I have to repay you some way. That's right, do you like takoyaki?"

Takoyaki was Luffy's favourite food. Although he didn't really want her to repay them for saving her, he wanted to eat some delicious takoyaki. "Oh yeah, that's my favourite food!", the black-haired told her, staring into her eyes like a hungry pet dog.

"Really? Well then, one will be 500 Berry!", the green-haired said, speaking like she was serving in a store.

"This is no store!", Pappug called, jumping and slapping her with his starfish arm. And just as Pappug had a comical face, Keimi's face turned into her comical expression too. "I got it wrong!"

For a short time, the mermaid and every male on the ship had the same comical expression until everyone decided to properly introduce themselves about half a minute later.

…

"Mermaaaaids~!", the blond shouted out with a raving voice, spinning around as he praised Keimi's arrival. "Mermaids, the dream of all men! Mermaids, the jewels of the ocean! Finally, I have met with a real live mermaid! And you're so cute, Keimi-chan!"

Brook was a pervert like Sanji, although to a lesser extent. He hadn't seen a live mermaid either prior to this encounter and still didn't act out like that. Instead he used polite ways of expressing that he found her beautiful. "Excuse me, could you lend me money?"

Mermaids don't have panties, so the skeleton can't ask about panties. However this variant of his usual question sounds like he actually wants to borrow money from people. And Keimi was scared, not because she realized he was a perv, but because he was a living skeleton and she'd never seen anything comparable before. Not to forget, with her own comical face. "Skeleton!"

The cook promptly kicked the musician in the head. "What the hell do you think you're doing, frightening her like that?! Get out of here!", he yelled, hoping he'd do the mermaid a favor. Due to his kick Brook's head openened up. "I can open my head up, too. Isn't that great?"

In milliseconds the green-haired's mood completely changed. "Niiiiice!", she cheered and clapped. The sniper thought it was a quick 180.

Meanwhile, Pappug the forgotten starfish leaned onto a wall, his back facing the Straw Hats. He was almost depress by the lack of attention paid to him, despite being more unique than Keimi. Hence the comical dark aura around his head. "Keimi… Keimi… something's wrong… something's wrong… Aren't you missing someone? Over there having fun, don't you think you're missing someone?", Pappug spoke, slowly gaining attention. "Who could it be? Why, it's me…"

"Oh, I'm sorry I forgot. Come over here!", the mermaid apologized, bearing a smiling expression.

As the starfish approached the group, the green-haired began to introduce her friend. "That's Pappug, my pet starfish. He's also my master."

Most Straw Hats were rightfully confused at this introduction. Three things didn't make sense to them.

"Can starfish talk?", the marksman wondered, scratching his head. He'd never seen this kind of animal before but he was sure they weren't supposed to talk.

"And your pet is your master? Isn't that weird?", the navigator inquired, as by that logic Pappug both was Keimi's superior and subordinate.

Understanding their confusion, the intelligent starfish proceeded to give explanations. "Ah right, that all sounds weird at first. Allow me to explain.", he spoke, never ceasing to smile throughout his explanation. "Keimi keeps me as a pet and feeds me, in return I'm teaching her to become a designer like me. See her t-shirt? It's from the 'Criminal' brand which I'm the designer of."

"That explains something.", Franky remarked in an impressed and surprised tone, resting his chin on his hand. "But why are you capable of talking?"

Other people would nervously smile during a weird revelation, Pappug didn't. Instead he tried to narrate his story in a proud way. "When I was a kid I thought I was human. Once I learned I'm a starfish I already spoke the human language."

'That was short.', Zoro thought, baffled by this extremely strange story. "Does it really work that way?", he asked, genuinely curious.

"Well, the world works in strange and frightening ways. That's just how the world is and how I am.", the designer said, answering in a way every Straw Hat fully understood. In fact, such a response is way too obvious to explain, simply because that statement is obviously true.

"So now I can say it, I'm Pappug the starfish and I thank you for saving us. I love all of you guys!", he exclaimed, attempting to induce a festive feeling. He too wanted to taste Keimi's food.

Oddly enough, the green-haired mermaid had a Den Den Mushi with her, which she used to call a friend. "For your takoyaki, let me call Hacchin. He'll help when we meet up with him.", she informed the Straw Hats, not saying who he is. It was the nickname, the honorific that let even the original five Straw Hat Pirates unaware Hacchin was Hatchan, another nickname for Hachi.

As soon as the transponder snail indicated the other side accepted the call, Keimi started speaking to Hachi, or so she thought. "Hello there Hacchin, Keimi here! Sorry I kind of got lost, where are you right now?"

"Oh, Keimi it is?", the person not Hachi replied, then sarcastically laughing. "Mohahahahaha! Do you know to whom you're speaking, this ain't Hachi you know!"

And another time Keimi's face went comically terrified. "Whaaaaat?! This isn't Hacchi~n?!", she yelled out surprised and shocked, afraid the unknown person did something to her friend.

"This is Macro! Of the famous idiotic Macro Pirates!", Macro yelled back, revealing his identity. "Don't say 'idiotic' yourself!", one of Macro's crewmates also yelled.

"Hmpf! What on earth are you doing with Hacchin's Den Den Mushi?", the mermaid called, regaining her composure and sounding way more serious.

By the sounds of this dialogue, every Straw Hat could deduce there was something wrong.

"Why, because we've defeated your precious Hachi, of course! Mohahahahah!", Macro jokingly boasted, enjoying his laugh.

"Hacchin would never be defeated by the likes of you!", the green-haired female shouted, getting annoyed with the antagonistic pirate fooling around.

"Well, usually we'd be no match for this guy, but this time we had the Flying Fish Riders on our side! Mohamohahaha!", the fishman pirate told, indirectly admitting his own weakness.

In his location he decided to let the captured octopus fishman talk a little to her, holding the Den Den Mushi near his face.

"Nyu~ Keimi, so you're okay!", he wheezed out, glad his friend was free and fine.

"Ahh! Hacchin, were you really defeated?", Keimi asked concerned, hoping they didn't beat him up too hard.

"They kind of caught me off guard.", Hachi explained, not trying to make excuses. "Regardless, you mustn't come and find me! I'll take out these guys myself and come straight back! Nyu~ I'll be fine!"

Macro had to sound menacing, now that Hatchan successfully sounded convincing. "Mohahahaha!", the fishman laughed scoffingly, about to threaten the mermaid in a ruthless, shameless way. "Y'know what Keimi, we're gonna sell this guy off pretty soon. Octopus fishmen are rare and will fetch quite the price. You wanna save him? Come and try! We're at Sabaody archipelago, 5 kilometers east of Grove 44, at the base of the Flying Fish Riders kidnapping gang."

Basing off his membership of the Sun Pirates on Fisher Tiger's ship, Macro and his crew were among the lowest a fishman could get. Not _THE_ lowest though.

"Nyu~ You mustn't Keimi, don't even think of coming!", the octopus fishman warned in an anxious tone, scared to death about her possible capture and proceeding selling.

A smacking sound came out of the Den Den Mushi on the green-haired's side. The sound of Hachi getting abused. "Shut up, you octopus freak!"

"Ngyuu!", he exclaimed in pain.

"See ya!", Macro said for the last time, then hanging up. ***Clank***

"Hacchin…", Keimi breathed out, sweating and feeling bad. Her pulse was all over the place, she did want to save him but was scared at the same time. Those were bad people she'd be dealing with.

Simultaneously, Nami's thoughts were completely different. "That 'Hacchin' guy on the Den Den Mushi right now, he does awfully sound familiar.", the navigator murmured silently in deep thoughts, reminded of a henchman of the person who did the most damage to her. "Maybe it's just me, it couldn't be…"

"I'm sorry Luffy-chin, but the takoyaki has to wait!", Keimi declared determinedly, a determined look on her face. "I have to go rescue a friend of mine right now!"

It was obvious the mermaid had no combat experience. Though that didn't make her determination unimpressive. Instead Luffy offered what a good friend would offer, help. "Easy there, we would like to help you out."

"Would you really help me save Hacchin?", the mermaid asked, very thankful about the help. With the Straw Hat Pirates Hachi would be saved _a lot easier_.

"Of course, and in return you can tell us how to get to Fishman Island.", the ginger proposed, which the green-haired accepted immediately.

"Who's this Hacchin guy anyway?", Zoro questioned, wanting to learn more about the guy he was supposed to save.

"He's running the takoyaki shop I work at, together we make the tastiest takoyaki in the world.", she informed, the swordsman being content with that answer.

Together with other males on the ship he held his fist up in the air. "We're gonna rescue the takoyaki!", the black-haired announced loudly, playing along with his nakama. "Yeaaaah!", was their responsive answer to that.

Coincidentally, Pappug and Keimi had a map with them, a map of Sabaody Archipelago. "Grove 44 is at the very eastern edge of the archipelago.", the starfish informed, handing his map to the orange-haired. "Regarding our location all we'd have to is head west, towards the archipelago proper."

Turning to Keimi, he then winked, implying she should initiate her ability. "We can leave the rest to the fish, right Keimi?"

"Yes, right. Let's go then!", the mermaid announced, moving towards the railing.

"HEEEY!", the green-haired then called out to the fish, communicating both acustically and telepathically.

Immediately a school of fish showed up on the surface, responging to her call. "We'd like you to give us directions."

While the mermaid was having a talk with the fish, the Straw Hats were quite impressed.

"Whoa, a lot of fish appeared.", Usopp observed, thinking this was very useful.

"Mermaids are so cool!", Chopper exclaimed, admiring her ability similar to his.

A little while later, the fish were forming an arrow on the water after the conversation with Keimi had ended. "They're scared of the flying fish guys, so they won't get too close themselves but will show us the way.", the green-haired told, understanding the feelings of her fellow sea inhabitants.

"I didn't know mermaids could talk to fish, you're amazing!", Nami praised, knowing that fish can be very important and influential in navigation.

"Yes you ARE amazing! Bravo~ mermaid!", Sanji raved, dancing like an eel with hearts in his eyes. That was his compliment and thanks to her, for being a mermaid and for helping them get to the rescue site.

Knowing what to do, the long-nosed took over the helm and turned the Sunny so that it was facing the back of the arrow.

"Pretty much everyone said it, but I still wanna say it. You're amazing.", the 17-year-old spoke to Keimi, making her blush for a second.

For a second, because she had worrying thoughts. "I'm really worried, Hacchin's voice sounded weak.", the mermaid vocally expressed, sitting down on a bench and bowing her head. "They must've done terrible things to him."

In order to stop the green-haired from being more distraught, the starfish sought dialogue to inform the Straw Hats about the Flying Fish Riders. "You offered help real quick, but are you strong?", Pappug asked Luffy, intending to make sure Keimi and him really were allied with strong people.

"Yes, we are.", the strawhat bluntly replied, knowing the designer wanted to tell more.

"You should be, the Flying Fish Riders are no joke. They're said to be the most dangerous kidnapping gang around here, people say that if you're targeted by them you're done. They're allied with the Macro Pirates now, and the only reason Hachi is their prisoner right now is because of the Flying Fish Riders. Under ordinary circumstances Hachi would easily beat them.", the starfish explained, frightened of the power of that kidnapping gang. "Their boss is Duval who hides behind an iron mask. No one knows his true face."

"I'm only hearing the name Hachi and that he's an octopus fishman.", Zoro brought up, a former opponent of his in mind. "Reminds me so much of an idiot we once ran into."

"If it's him I wouldn't want to save him.", the blond remarked, indifferent about Nami's former tormentor's henchman. "Not that it really could be him, though."

Franky, who also was head of a gang, although not as criminal as the Flying Fish Riders, wanted to know more about them and their leader. Maybe he wasn't that bad of a guy, he thought. "Oi Pappug, can you tell me more about them?", the cyborg asked, Pappug turning around to answer his question.

"They started to become one of the most active kidnapping gangs around here some time ago. It's because, from what I've heard, Duval is looking for someone. He's been searching every ship that passes through these waters. He probably bears a huge grudge against a pirate.", the designer told, implying it was everything he knew and the Flying Fish Riders were a mysterious gang. Nonetheless the cola-drinking shipwright was content with this answer. "Thanks a lot."

Suddenly Keimi's aquatic friends rapidly turned around to flee, disrupting their arrow-shaped swimming formation. While leaving, they didn't forget contacting the mermaid telepathically in order to inform their reasoning for flight. "Huh?"

Even without telepathy, the Straw Hats weren't slow to notice this. "What's wrong, Keimi?"

"The fish are saying 'Sorry, but this is as far as we go!'.", the green-haired informed, fully knowing the fish weren't escaping for no reason.

"Uack, it's them! They're here!", the starfish exclaimed with a surprised and unprepared expression, referring to the Flying Fish Riders.

The blue-haired clearly didn't took the 'Flying' seriously, because he didn't see any Fish Riders on the sea's surface. "Where?! I can't see anything!"

"No, not in the sea, look up!", the designer corrected, making Franky and most of his nakama look upwards in the sky.

To their surprise, flying fish were just waiting in the air. Turns out the future Pirate King already struck the riders with his fists, letting gravity do its job and very soon after the gang members fell on Sunny's deck. Their fish were domesticated, so they patiently and loyally waited for their masters to return.

"I want you to lead us to your leader's place.", the 360 Million Berry man demanded from the gang members, looking and appearing extremely badass. "You have no choice."

Angered and intimidated, the Flying Fish Riders forced themselves to grin, embarrassed yet thinking rationally. "Damn you but fine, Duval-sama will avenge us anyway!"

Of course, such a quick turn of events lead to some bewilderment. "That was it? So fast?", Nami and Brook both asked, facing four male nakama.

"It's Luffy, it's to be expected.", Usopp, Franky, Sanji and Zoro answered, flat in tone and expression.

…

10 minutes later:

Duval was both furious and worried. His men should've already arrived at least 5 minutes ago. 'Maybe they got captured by these blasted pirates.', he thought, standing up from his seat. For the Macro Pirates and his remaining men this was a sign of action. Action would soon come.

"Come with me!", the gangster boss ordered, sounding very harsh and rough. He was very tall and muscular, on top of that he wore an iron helmet which made him look like a madman. All his henchmen followed him to the entrance of their base, a small bay. Over the bay a rope was hanging, and that rope was there to hold a large cage. The cage was large enough to fit a fishman, namely Hachi.

"Listen up men!", Duval began, signalizing his people to listen carefully. "Their job was to look for the mermaid Keimi, as planned with the Macro Pirates.", he said, referring to his lost riders with 'their'. "They haven't come back, so only the damn Straw Hat Pirates can be behind this! I've told them not to start any conflict with other pirates, means there's only one enemy."

He then turned his head 45 degrees to the right, where the idiotic Macro Pirates were standing in a row. "You three, I want you to go into the water for the trap!", he demanded, planning ahead for the upcoming fight. Despite his looks Duval wasn't a dumb person. "As stupid as you three idiots are, you are needed for the mermaid's capture."

Those three were not only literal idiots, they have also been called idiots so often it's not an insult to them anymore. "Understand, Duval-sama. We're on our way.", Macro answered, wondering how this plan would play out.

"The rest of you, direct confrontation!", the gangster boss ordered, making clear he changed his plans. "My intention for an ambush is over, now that those pirates have touched our men, we'll show them what we're capable of! Got it?!". It was rare for him to act so much for a leader, this time he did it due to his fury. Tall and authoritative, that's how he was standing.

"Got it!", his henchmen roared, on guard and lustful for battle. Usually they were more careful around their boss due to his occasional sensitivity, but his assertive persona behind the helmet raised their morale. They were considered such a powerful gang because of the boss, Duval.

Just a few seconds later, the Thousand Grand Sunny became visible on the horizon. One of the Flying Fish Riders attempted to inform Duval about it, but he merely held his hand in front of him. "No need, I see them as well."

Closer came the Sunny with every second. Hachi's situation was different, but this didn't mean he wanted to see them. 'Nyu~ This is bad! Nami is with them and she won't forgive me! Of course she won't, I did terrible things back with Arlong-san! And when they see me they'll surely beat me up!', he thought in panic, worried about the past and hectically turning his head left and right. 'I wonder if Keimi is actually with them like those guys implied. Have they kidnapped her and Pappug or are they giving her a ride? Nevertheless, their ship is coming closer and it's actually them, no doubt! They can't recognize me!'

"Tako-Hachi Black!", the octopus fishman quietly exclaimed, pouring his own ink all over him.

As the Sunny halted in the middle of the bay, the Straw Hats didn't know who to speak to first, Hachi or the Flying Fish Riders. Saving them the effort of talking, the non-Straw Hats on the ship did it instead.

"Oi Boss, we're here!", one of the captured Flying Fish Riders yelled out, wishing his gang would save them right there and now. "Please make sure to give them a good beating!"

"Look, Pappug!", Keimi chimed in, noticing her friend in the cage. "It's Hacchin, although he's all black for some reason. Why are you like that, what happened to you?", she wanted to know, swapping the person she talked to.

"Nyu~ Nothing to worry about, more importantly you have to turn back! It's dangerous here!", Hatchan demanded, worried she might be caught into the upcoming conflict between the Flying Fish Riders and the Straw Hats.

Hearing the former Arlong Pirate's voice, Zoro recalled the past. "I've heard this voice before… and his silouette also looks familiar.", the swordsman observed, highly doubting this Hachi was a different Hachi. "Nami, any thoughts about that?"

"Mhmmm, there _is_ something very suspicious about him.", Nami remarked, pretty much certain about her suspicion. It wasn't really a mystery anyway.

Sanji's intelligence didn't allow him to think otherwise. He already figured out the method to identify the literally inked person. "Oi! How's Arlong doing?", the blond shouted, 100% knowing what he was talking about.

Sometimes the clumsy and goofy octopus fishman didn't know it was better not to tell the truth. This was one of those moments. "Ah! Arlong-san, Chew and Kuroobi are still in prison. I'm the only one who escaped.", Hachi told, only confirming the obvious. "And I've managed to open up a takoyaki shop like I've always dreamed."

The original Straw Hats just flatly looked into his eyes, in disbelief how easily he let his identity slip out. While doing so Luffy felt guilty, because in his past life he was arguably worse. It's just because of the big change he could look down upon this.

"Oh crap!", the former Arlong Pirate let out, realizing how easily they deduced who he really was.

"So it's actually you!", the original East Blue Straw Hats comically exclaimed, minus Luffy.

"What about it?", Robin wanted to know. She knew there was past experiences in the crew she hadn't witnessed, since she was only the seventh member.

"A while ago Nami's home island was under control of a nasty pirate crew called the 'Arlong Pirates'.", the long-nosed explained, finding it kind-of awkward he was speaking so casually of pirates who let his nakama experience true horror. It probably was because the Arlong Pirates were really damn weak compared to the Straw Hats now. "That octo guy was one of the crew's top members."

"An old enemy, huh?", Franky commented, standing next to Brook more on the back of the deck compared to his other nakama.

"Well of course I took Luffy and the others along and beat the lot of em up. And the whole crew was defeated.", the sniper said, half lying, half telling the truth. That made him look good infront of Chopper who believed every word. "I thought all the fishmen were imprisoned, but it looks like one of them got away."

"Interesting, you've seen quite a lot.", Brook added while drinking his tea.

The black-haired knew saving Hachi was up to the navigator's feelings. And although she decided to save and forgive him in his past life, he was still going to ask her. "What do you think Nami, should we save him? Like, for Keimi?", the 17-year-old asked, showing he sometimes did things with his nakama's consent.

"Keimi, Pappug, I've decided we'll save him.", the orange-haired announced, gladdening the Fishman Island citizens. "To be honest he's harmless and we made a promise, didn't we?"

Hatchan was very much surprised by the ginger's decision. He thought she'd never forgive him for being associated with Arlong. But he thought wrong, because even people who've had horrible things done to them can be kind and forgiving. Nonetheless he'd formally apoligize later.

At the same time, the Flying Fish Riders had enough of being ignored. Duval was at the point where he'd send out his men without a warning to the Straw Hats.

Before that happened a consequent wave of King's haki sent every enemy to the Straw Hats except the gangster boss to the state of unconsciousness. Fodder Flying Fish Riders, their flying fish, Duval's bull Motobaro, and the Macro Pirates underwater.

"How'd you do that?!", the large man snapped out in shock, reacting like a person who's never seen haki before, him. The future Pirate King wasn't his main objective, only his chef was. But he planned to kill the entire crew, though after witnessing this he changed his plans to just killing the Vinsmoke and then quickly retreating. Because if he was knocked out after killing his target the gangster boss would have a real reason to fear for his life.

"Doesn't matter. Let's just get over our problems as fast as possible.", the 360 Million Berry man replied, forcing Duval to get serious. But with words instead of weapons since he couldn't use his gang or bull as a strategic device against Sanji.

"Sanji of the Straw Hat Pirates, I want your death!", Duval exclaimed, moving his hand towards his head. In a matter of seconds his mask was taken off, revealing his face. It was a very controversial face, truly controversial. One of the main reasons behind his suffering.

"Aaaahhhh!", the sharpshooter screamed out, eyes bulging out half as much as his nose, as the doctor went "Eeeehhhhhhh?!" with his jaw dropping. Reactions of immense surprise.

"That guy…!", the green-haired let out with his teeth clenched. "No way!", the navigator followed, covering her mouth with her left hand. Reactions of disbelief.

"Maa.", the archaeologist giggled, due to this occurrence being as if taken out of a children's book. "Oh my.", the musician uttered out, calm and controlled. Reactions of humor.

"Uooooh! I'm moved!", the cyborg cried, wiping tears with his index finger. Reaction of oddity.

And Sanji's, the situation's most important character's reaction? A reaction of cold shock, no words. Very nightmarish for him.

"I've waited for this day, the day to send you to hell!", the gangster boss roared, hatred as much as a component of his voice as sadness and grief. "Because the wanted poster of the wanted is different from the wanted's real face, bounty hunters and Marines would pass by the real one if they saw him. However they would find the fake one, and they'd say 'Found you, Flame Leg Sanji!'"

This story was just from one perspective, Sanji had enough of this perspective and leaped onto the base ground from the Sunny in one massive jump.

"And then I… And then I would say I'M NOT HIM! I DON'T KNOW HIM! I'M NOT EVEN A PIRATE!", he screamed, nearly shrieking in grief. Tears ran from his eyes, eyes which told of things he forcibly had to experience against his will.

"Do you understand it?!", the Sanji lookalike called in a tone of contempt. "The dread of one day, all of a sudden being hunted down?! Getting chased by Marine Headquarters, famous bounty hunters aiming for my life. What did I do? Give me back my life!"

After running towards the gangster boss after landing from that jump, the blond delivered a kick to the crying and shouting man's face. "Like I care!", the cook angrily yelled with sharp teeth, feeling insulted that Duval thought it was his, the pirate chef's fault.

"Bobeh!", Duval let out in pain, blood coming out of his thick-lipped mouth. Though 5 seconds later he recovered from that.

"What do you mean 'Like I care'?!", he called, very frustrated about the 154 Million Berry man's position on this.

"I have a right to be angry about this wanted poster just like you! Blame the one who drew this, not me!", the Vinsmoke complained, dishing out more logical arguments. "You could've also done things like changing your hairstyle!"

Suddenly the gangster boss made the 'Why didn't I think of this earlier' face and slowly slammed his left fist vertically on his right palm.

"Oi, what's with the 'Why didn't I think of this earlier' face?", Sanji exclaimed with sharp teeth, annoyed about Duval's late realization.

Duval originally was going to tell the Straw Hat chef how he used to run a mafia in a remote countryside town and he was living a peaceful life by threatening the townspeople for money. But the Vinsmoke only wanted to set an end to this stupid dispute as quick as possible. "I'm sick of this shit, sick of this wanted poster, sick of the false accusations and sick of your face! It shouldn't even exist!", the 154 Million Berry man ranted, reminding everyone how mean he could be if he wanted to. "I think what I'm about to do will be better for both of us."

He first kneed down a little for a jumping stance, then he executed a jumping kick right into his lookalike's eye section. "Oeil!". That wasn't just it, the gangster boss was kicked into various parts of his face by bone-breaking feet, screaming in pain during the process and begging him to stop. "Nez! Joue! Bouche! Dents! Menton!"

"Parage Shot!", Sanji shouted, landing a flurry of kicks on Duval's entire head. Duval's head would never be the same, not even his own mother could recognize him, literally.

As soon as the brutal barrage ended, the gangster boss began touching his face. "I need a mirror! A MIRROR!", he screamed loudly, panic flowing through his body. He was in fear his face turned out way worse than before, it was a negative kind of adrenaline rush. Duval ran to his room faster than he ran away from the bounty hunters and Marines. Seeing his face's condition was top priority for him at that time, he'd get that mirror even if it was the last thing he'd do.

10 seconds later, after taking his hand mirror out of his drawer, Duval looked at his reflection. From this moment on the man's personality, life goal and opinions on people changed, the changes lasting until his death. Tears of joy filled his face, he was born ugly according to his mother, but that was the past and against his expectations his outer appearance changed in everyone's favor. "I'M HANDSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOME!", the now former gangster boss shouted at the top of his lungs, vowing to live his life differently. His flying fish gang wouldn't be a kidnapping gang anymore, and more than that not enemies of the Straw Hat Pirates anymore.

Duval ran out of his room to see the Straw Hats. "Heey, Straw Hats, don't go before saying goodbye!", he called out. There were a few other things Duval wanted to do. "First of all, I want to thank you, Flame-legged young master, you've made me so~ handsome! I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I didn't, now the ladies won't be able to leave me alone.". To show off his new handsomeness he tried to wink. Though it looked awkward, because Duval never had the need to wink before.

'If you're not used to winking, please don't even bother.', all Straw Hats thought, sweatdropping.

"Anyways, I'll give you my Den Den Mushi number so you can call us, the Rosy Life Riders if you ever need help, we're friends now, right? Wish we could've met under more pleasant circumstances.". And he winked again.

"If there are no hard feelings anymore it's enough for me.", Sanji spoke with an annoyed undertone, wanting to leave and not be annoyed about the now vain Duval anymore.

Franky already turned the Grand Sunny around.

"Bye Straw Hats, I'll be ready to assist you once my crew wakes up!", Duval exclaimed, waving as the large vessel left his base. He was much better at waving than winking.

Meanwhile, Hachi, largely ignored since being saved, was about to prepare takoyaki with Keimi. Same as her, he also felt the need to repay the Straw Hat Pirates with delicious takoyaki.

The Straw Hats themselves hadn't eaten in a while, plus takoyaki was considered delicious by every Straw Hat. Patiently waiting was what they were doing until the meal was ready.

…

"Itadakimasu!", everyone said, biting into the freshly made takoyaki. Hatchan was the exception, as even with his 6 arms he had to work like crazy to make takoyaki as fast as his saviours consumed them. Though the only reason for that was a certain glutton, a rubber man.

"Mmm, so tasty!", he praised. Besides takoyaki being one of his favourite kinds of meat dish, the sauce was outstanding, even Sanji acknowledged it.

"It's an ancient recipe handed down from a legendary takoyaki stand from long ago.", Hachi told, proud and happy the Straw Hats liked his cooking.

One time where he wasn't preparing any more takoyaki he silently stood by the navigator, only daring to speak quietly and distanced. "Uh… did you like it too, my takoyaki… Nami?"

She picked up another one. "I hope you don't think this means I've forgiven you.", the orange-haired reminded, putting the octopus fishman in a state of alert. "But it's really great.". Her expression changed notably.

So did his, he was very thankful the ginger wasn't biased against his cooking. "Keep eating until your faces are stuffed!", Hatchan called, especially addressing the males. His morale was put on a higher scale thanks to Nami, preparing takoyaki would only cost him half as much exhaustion after that.

…

25 minutes later:

Luffy turned into a balloon. A balloon with a captain's coat. "Aaaah, good stuff!", he let out, happy about all the takoyakis he'd eaten. "Guess I can't eat more."

"Same. Can't eat another bite.", Chopper mumbled in an exhausted tone, lying on the ground. His belly got bigger and his face was literally stuffed.

"It was a truly beautiful afternoon. My first takoyaki, and I'm simply filled with satisfaction.", Brook said, shortly before his bad manners. At times he was a gentleman, at other times pretty gross. The skeleton farted and burped at the same time.

"You dirty beast!", the navigator yelled at the musician, disturbed by the disgusting vibes and smell. "Don't do that!"

Keimi cleaned the takoyaki grill while Hachi laid down exhausted. That was understandable, but for some reason Pappug was lying beside him and he hadn't cooked a single one. A little later the Straw Hat navigator wanted to know from Keimi how exactly Fishman Island and the New World were connected.

"That's easy. From here you head to the Sabaody Archipelago where you get your ship coated. In the Red Line there's a little hole 10 thousand meters below the sea level, but to us Fishman Islanders it's a _really big_ hole since that's where Fishman Island is. Anyways, because ships and humans can't normally handle that water pressure you have to get it coated, that's what they do in Sabaody as I said earlier.", the mermaid nicely replied to the orange-haired.

Pappug frowned and pouted, his student took away most of the opportunities to talk about. "Awww, Keimi! Now I have to talk about the uncool route!", the starfish complained at first, then changing his voice into a normal tone for formal explanations. "There's another way over the Red Line, but that's where Mary Geoise is situated, and pirates like you would never ever get the permission to use this route."

"I don't care about this stupid route!", the black-haired remarked in a disdainful manner. Even without his hate for the Gorosei, Tenryuubito and World Government, Fishman Island was more interesting in his opinion.

Holding his chin, the cyborg slightly twisted his head. "No idea what coating means but from what you said it must be a way for letting a ship dive."

The blue-haired was correct, and the place where ships are bubble-coated was right there, considering Duval's former base was only 5 kilometers away from Sabaody. Soap bubbles were soaring in the air. And those were plenty. Really plenty.

"Ahh, how lovely!", Nami spoke, excited about the new island. Similar how she loved geography, she also loved nature.

"A true wonder.", Robin agreed, looking at the bubbles with interest. Her love for nature was the same as Nami's.

"Excuse me, what the heck?!", Usopp uttered, also loving nature. Though, nature could freak him out or simply surprise him a lot sometimes. He wasn't the only one surprised, it's just the other Straw Hats muttered minor sounds of surprise. The long-nosed merely was more expressive.

Soap bubbles weren't just floating in the air, huge soap bubbles were covering the tops of huge trees with huge roots. And the bubbles were more than plenty, they were near limitless, as the sniper pointed out.

That's how Sabaody was, the bubbles come from the island and it looks impressive to every newcomer, no matter who.

Suddenly, the archaeologist remembered about the Log Pose. "Ah, I would like to know if the Log Pose will be intact.", she said, knowing that keeping the Log Pose pointing at Fishman Island was important.

"That's right!", the navigator remembered, surprised how carelessly she was distracted from important matters like this. "The Log Pose won't change its course if we stop here, right?"

"Nyu! You don't need to worry about that!", Hachi assured, about to share his knowledge. "The Sabaody Archipelago is just a huge growth of trees, it doesn't have any magnetic pull. And these trees aren't just any trees, they're the world's biggest mangrove trees, the Yarukiman Mangroves. Unlike other mangroves their roots will never sink under the water.

"Well that's interesting.", the blond remarked, impressed the Archipelago wasn't a cluster of islands but trees. "Can you tell us more?"

"There are 79 trees in all, on each one people have built towns or other constructions. And it's those 79 'islands' which are known as the Sabaody Archipelago.", Hatchan continued, receiving everyone's attention and interest in his words. "And it's where people go if they want to head to the New World. The closest mangrove, Grove 44 is the civilian entrance. Let's take the ship a little bit further in."

Not even a minute later, Pappug made a suggestion on where to dock the ship. "Let's drop anchor at Grove 41. All mangroves are linked together by bridges, as long as you don't forget the number you won't get lost."

'Optimistic assumption.', the marksman thought. "I know a person who'd still get lost."

"Yeah.", the doctor agreed, looking at the same direction the sharpshooter did, at the swordsman.

"Stop looking at me like that!", the green-haired yelled, annoyed about their attempt to embarrass him in the eyes of the Fishman Island citizens.

Shortly afterwards, after stepping foot on Grove 41, a soap bubble directly popped out of the ground beside the pirates.

This raised the Oharan's interest. "How does that work?", she curiously asked the starfish, fully aware the flora here was different to most of Paradise.

"The roots of the Yarukiman Mangrove secrete a special, unique kind of resin. When the roots 'breathe out' like tree roots do, the resin gets blown out into bubbles which float off into the sky.", Pappug explained, telling about the wonders and mechanics of nature.

"Thank you, Pappug-san. Sabaody sure is special.", the 289 Million Berry woman spoke, enjoying the new island so far.

Hachi had the plan to immediately head to the coating expert he'd known for years, but as of right then the 17-year-old had a different notion in mind. "Excuse me, Keimi and guys, but me and my brother had agreed to meet here one week ago, can we please head to him before we see the coating master?", the strawhat politely asked, using his Observation haki to pinpoint the exact location of Sabo. Currently he was standing at the entrance of Sabaody Park, waiting and tracking his brother with haki himself.

The octopus fishman frowned, using one of his many hands. "Nyu~ Ray-san has enough time, it shouldn't be an issue for him.", he answered, having enough time himself to freely use.

"I'd love to meet your brother, Luffy-chin. He's probably a nice guy like you, so I'd be totally fine.", Keimi also replied, showing her willingness to change plans.

"Yosh! I know where he is, come along everyone!", the future Pirate King called, smiling excitedly. He was full of anticipation, seeing his other brother after 3 years.

His nakama and friends followed his direction, wondering what kind of Person Sabo was. Some had already seen Ace, but besides appearance they desired to learn about his personality.

'Black Rod' sure was a nice person, and he'd soon meet his brother's best friends.

…

16 minutes later:

Sabaody Park was located on 3 mangroves, Grove 32, 33 and 34. The entrance was situated on Grove 32, where Sabo was waiting. Turning his head to the left from right, he saw the crew of his brother approaching, the captain included.

"Oi Luffy, come here!", the blond called out, waving at the 360 Million Berry man with a smiling expression. "I've missed you!". The 450 Million Berry man wore the same attire as in canon, except his open coat revealing his shirtless torso. Above his abs there was a blue mark of the Whitebeard Pirates tattooed on his chest, same as Marco.

"Sabo!", the rubber man returned, giving his bro a hug. "How are you doing?"

"I'm all fine, I care more about how you're doing.", the Yonko Commander told, finishing the hug.

"Eh, I'm fine too. Wanna meet my crew?", Luffy asked, behaving a little more like his old self. Sabaody was a mostly nice place and his brother would invite his friends to a few hours at Sabaody Park.

Sabo greeted each of Luffy's friends in a friendly manner, making them like him as well.

"Welcome to Sabaody, I've been here before and know what's good around here. The best way of introducing the wonderful archipelago to first-time visitors is letting them spend good time in Sabaody Park.", the blond spoke, gaining everyone's good will. His charisma did wonders and he fulfilled long time dreams of Fishman Island citizens.

"Woohoo!", Keimi cheered, overcome with happiness. "I can't believe this isn't a dream!"

As everybody else also cheered, Hachi and Pappug simply couldn't forbid her from entering her dream destination. It would not only ruin the mood but there were plenty of strong friendly people around. The former Flying Fish Riders were considered extremely strong for a kidnapping gang and the Straw Hats washed them. Same would happen to other gangs, so no reason to make her unhappy.

…

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!", were some of the Straw Hat screams, explained by a roller coaster descending from its highest point at high speed.

"Yahoooooooi!", were other Straw Hat and Whitebeard Pirate screams, explained by the same theme park attraction's velocity. Just different hormones beside adrenaline doing different work.

Nonetheless it certainly was exciting. The different attractions caused excitement, fear and nausea. Slow or fast, high or low, every newcomer admitted the rides were worth it.

Then it was the ferris wheel's turn. The view was spectacular, the bubble cabin went up super high. Aside from that the mermaid's childhood dream had been fulfilled, she'd remember it for the rest of her life. Not to forget, it was nostalgia time for Hatchan and Pappug.

After many, many more activities, time was reached for leaving the amusement park.

"Sugoi, Luffy! Your brother certainly knows how to have fun!", the sniper praised, despite having screamed the loudest during the roaller coaster ride.

"Fufufu, I sure liked it here. One of the times in my life I've had the most fun in.", Robin said, innerly mourning the fact she never got to have as much fun as this in her 28 years so often.

"Yeah, yo! What a SUUUUUPEEEEEEEEER day!", Franky exclaimed in joy, striking his pose.

Others like Brook and Chopper had pretty much the same thing to say.

"It was nice and all, but I couldn't go shopping.", Nami sighed with a complaining undertone, her gaze facing a bit downwards.

"Now we can go to the coating master.", the black-haired brought up, addressing the octopus fishman.

Said fishman nodded, leading the way. With that, they went off to visit yet another far mangrove.

…

Shakky's Rip-off Bar came across as a vulgar tavern. The owner of the bar was a woman, which is why vulgar thugs thought they'd be able to bilk and get away with it. Too bad for them they didn't know she was affiliated with the Rocks Pirates until 40 years ago. Because of their detour, the Straw Hats and friends weren't able to witness the epic beatdown Shakuyaku casually delivered to some thugs.

Outside, Pappug questioned whether going in was a good idea. He'd never been there before. "Hachi, it says right on the sign they're gonna rip us off…", he murmured, sweatdropping and doubting the owner's hospitality. "It looks pretty awful to me."

"It's fine, they're good people.", Hatchan assured, about to open the door. He knew Shakky, and the Straw Hats silently agreed with him. They knew better than to judge a book by its cover.

As everyone entered the place, they met the woman, cleaning drinking glasses with a towel. "Welcome.", she greeted with a neutral voice, then changing her expression after seeing who her guests were. "Oh my! Hatchan!"

"Nyu~ It's been too long, Shakky.", he greeted her, being nothing but friendly.

"How long has it been?! 10 years?!". In contrast to him, Shakuyaku was all joyful and delighted. She was also intelligent beside hospitable, so she diverted her attention to her other guests too. "Take a seat everyone, I'll be there and do as much as I can for you."

…

13 minutes later:

After finishing her cheerful talk with Hachi, Shakky walked over to the 17-year-old and 20-year-old. They were the big names in the tavern and on the archipelago, beside Rayleigh of course. The former pirate was interested in young spirits like these.

"Monkey-chan and Sabo-chan, you two are interesting fellows.", she began, intending to begin a long conversation. "First off, how is it in the New World, Sabo-chan? Any clashes with other Yonko?"

Aside from the Ace and Blackbeard issue there wasn't anything wrong regarding the Whitebeard Pirates. Sure, the old man was sick but that was expected. Noticing that Shakuyaku was a nice and trustable person, the blond decided to be honest. "The New World is alright, thank you. Beautiful as ever. If only there wasn't this one traitor creating problems for us.", he half-ranted, trying to be as friendly as possible and signalizing the topic was sensible at the same time.

"My, my.", Shakky commented, understanding the message. After that it was time to speak to the strawhat. "Anyways, I've taken a liking in you, Monkey-chan. You're one of 12 notorious troublemakers called the '12 Supernovas' arriving at Sabaody. In your crew there are 2 besides you, pirates with a bounty over 100 Million Berry.", she informed, just about to tell him he was her favourite. "That's what my sources told me, and I'm rooting for you. Unlike the others, all formidable pirates who've chosen one of the seven possible paths after descending Reverse Mountain, you and your crew don't cause much civilian harm. More like none, and that's cute."

"So many pirates with a high bounty like Luffy and Zoro? Are they a danger?", Chopper questioned, learning about different pirates and the Grand Line's geography.

"To you guys not, Monkey-chan and Roronoa-chan are Numbers 1 and 2 respectively among the Supernovas.", the bar owner replied. "All the Supernova names are all over the newspapers. Information is a powerful weapon, you should at least know the names of your rivals."

"We think alike.", Robin remarked, understanding the importance of information. That's why among her nakama she was seen as the Straw Hat tasked with information.

"Great minds think alike, Nico-chan. And if you're wondering why you aren't apart of the Supernovas, the World Government doesn't consider you to be new to Paradise.", Shakuyaku explained, clearing up the question inside the minds of more think-active Straw Hats.

"By the way, Shakky.", the octopus fishman brought up, advancing the topic in direction of the reason they came here. "Ab-"

"No need, Hatchan. I already know what you want to say. You came here for Monkey-chan and his crew to get their ship coated, right?", Shakuyaku intercepted in a calm tone, proving once again how intelligent she was.

"Nyu~ That's about it."

"Well, here's not here right now.", Shakky stated, her facial expression and gesturing telling there was nothing she herself could do to help them find him. "But if you want to find him yourself, there's no way he would've left the archipelago. He's probably in the various gambling houses around here, meeting women and shacking up."

"I have the feeling we'll have to find him ourselves rather than wait here.", Zoro muttered, wondering slightly, very deep in his mind whether the coating master got lost.

"That's correct. As a former pirate himself leaving for a long period of time shouldn't be unexpected.", she said, recalling the last time she saw him, six months ago.

"I'll find him and get him here.", Luffy declared, having decided to not waste time. "With my ability I should be able to locate him without any difficulties."

Shakuyaku seemed to be surprised a lot at that. "Huh, a rookie like you, proficient at using haki?". Shakky's expression changed to a mix of astonishment and admiration. "Oh my, I think my prediction that you'd turn out to be a big name in the New World was correct."

Sabo still had to patiently wait for the time to ask questions. After hearing his little brother's confession to his crew it wasn't unexpected for him, but the untold details couldn't suppress his curiosity.

"Should we come with you, Luffy-bro?", the cyborg asked, worrying about Rayleigh. The blue-haired worried about him because there were powerful pirates around. Though worrying about Rayleigh was unnecessary, the shipwright didn't know about the old man's past.

"I'm good.", the black-haired replied, declining due to the fact he was about to use Soru and there was no way Franky could keep up. "Take care."

The 17-year-old then vanished, appearing in front of the Human Auctioning House less than one second later. It didn't take longer because both the bar and the slave shop were in the same group of mangroves, the lawless zone.

"Yosh! No going back, no regrets.", he told himself, vigorously clenching his fists, smirking like a demon.

Inside the slave shop there were prominent people such as the Kid Pirates, Heart Pirates, three World Nobles and the right hand of the former Pirate King. Although they were extremely different regarding combat power, political power and background, they had one thing in common. Disbelief, after the strawhat, who _despised_ slave trade, ripped away the building's roof with his bare hands and threw it towards the Red Line.

To say the future Pirate King wasn't enraged would be a lie. Here, where his nakama weren't in vicinity he could come close to going berserk. The 360 Million Berry man mostly disliked acting like this, though in that moment he could freely show his true feelings to the world's unjust elite who don't deserve their power they're using to abuse the lives of billions. Directly or indirectly, the rubber man didn't care how they abused most of the world's people, all he knew was that they were evil and had no morals.

With a palm strike Luffy completely demolished the wall serving as the back wall to the prison cells. The slaves, free if it weren't for their exploding neck collar, broke out into loud cheers and rejoice. Silvers Rayleigh, among the slaves but more like on his own volition, didn't react this way after meeting his surprising savior, but a slight smile formed on his lips, standing for his gratitude and interest in the young black-haired.

"Keys must be somewhere, take them and you're free.", the 17-year-old spoke, his tone telling everyone but Rayleigh to act quick and get away before they can be caught again. "Rayleigh-san, you wouldn't be who you are if you couldn't remove that damn collar without a key, right?"

This made the former first mate chuckle, that Monkey D. Luffy he'd been waiting for since he was told about him by Shanks was a bold and audacious fellow. "Hahaha! You're right! Though being saved by a rookie like you is the ultimate proof I'm way out of my prime.". Rayleigh loved to joke, but had at least a little pride still. Like a magician he released himself from his shackles without any flashy movements and threw it away, where the immoral device detonated.

"What are your next plans, Monkey D. Luffy?", the old man demanded, genuinely having taken a liking in him. "To me personally you've caused enough uproar for one day, don't you think?"

Shaking his head, the strawhat looked him in the eyes. "Not yet, no. Rayleigh-san, I must ask you to come with me. After I'm done here we can return to Shakky-san's bar."

"So you've met her, my wife?", Rayleigh said, getting more impressed by the future Pirate King as time flew by. "Good. I'll come with you, I want to have a nice chat with you after all."

Following the bizarre meetup, the two walked towards the stage where slaves are presented to royals and rich people willing to buy them. Apparently everyone was still busy processing the actions of the future Pirate King.

Disco, the manager of the slave shop owned by Donquixote Doflamingo was among the first ones to fully recover. "It's the old man and… Strawhat Luffy! What are you two up to, explain yourselves!"

Upon finishing his sentence, the middle-aged man with an unethical job, as well as all his collaborators and Tenryubito guards dropped unconscious on the spot. Towards people like these the 360 Million Berry man's had no reason to go easy on with King's haki. After letting the spectators react with outrage and panic, minus the Kid Pirates, Heart Pirates and the former Pirate King's first mate, Luffy also unleashed his haki on the slave-buying scumbags, making them faint, only excluding the three Celestial Dragons. For a reason. Even then he regulated his King's haki so they would have a mental breakdown. For tormenting reasons.

"D-d-d-daddy, I'm sc-scared!", Saint Charloss stuttered in fear, that being the first time he had to worry about something.

"Am I going to die?!", Saint Shalulia nearly cried, too scared to speak loudly.

"I… I… I…". Saint Roswald wanted to calm down his children and threaten the black-haired. But there was nothing he could do, all his political might didn't amount to jack against the power of a true King.

Thanks to the burst of King's haki he crapped and peed his white pants. So did his spoiled kids.

"You are walking trash, thinking so highly of yourselves while you don't realize how everyone abominates you for the way you are acting. It'd be for the best if you died on the spot but you're not even worth killing. I won't dirty my hands with _your_ blood. The only reason I did this was to show you how pathetic you are, you must've realized that yourselves.", the 17-year-old bluntly stated, deliberately not using an emotional voice, like a disgusted voice. In his mind they weren't worth his feelings. "I must go now, though, as I have better things to do like this. May my eyes never take a glance of your faces again. Consider jumping off Marie Geoise."

With that, him and Rayleigh made their way to Shakky's bar. There, with all Straw Hats present they could talk about the coating.

Meanwhile, Kid and Heart Pirates were stiff from shock, their faces were blank, eyes were wide open and pupils microscopic. Eustass Kid had the very same opinion on World Nobles as his rival. In contrast to the strawhat though, he would've never dared going so far. In terms of sheer badassery, the future Pirate King was a good few steps ahead of him. "Guys…", the red-haired whispered to his crew, drawing very close to them. "Let's get the hell out of here, that boy is bad news."

"Agreed!", Killer quickly whispered back, sweating buckets behind his mask. People called him crazy, his ephitet was 'Massacre Soldier' after all. But following this day the blond considered himself to be a totally sane man compared to the special kind of nutjob, the Number 1 Supernova. At least that was his respective opinion.

Trafalgar Law didn't talk to his nakama. Instead he focused on himself, entering into an inner monologue. 'As an ally Strawhat-ya would be too valuable and powerful. On the other hand I would be screwed if that guy was my enemy. Not sure if I should associate with him…'. The surgeon schemed and planned a lot. On his great board game the 360 Million Berry man was an uncertain piece. Having to be careful was a grave understatement.

Even though Kid and Law, by extension Drake were considered to be top Supernovas, only below Luffy and Zoro, neither one really believed themselves to be equal to Luffy. What he did was a no-go, even among the elite criminals in the world. The only people who could survive the consequences of doing this were the Yonko and Dragon the Revolutionary. And those were just 5 people among multiple billion.

'Enough craziness for today.', the captains simultaneously thought, minding their own business.

…

Back again, Luffy appeared to be the same kind-hearted boy as almost always, smiling at everyone, not acting suspiciously. "Hey guys, look who I found!", he chimed in with a cheerful voice, putting smiles in the faces of his nakama and friends.

"Great, nyu! Now Ray-san can finally prepare your ship for Fishman Island.", Hachi told the Straw Hats, then turning towards the old man he really wanted to see and greet. "Ray-san, it's been a long time! How's your day?"

"Just wonderful, Hachi! Even more wonderful now that you're here! I've missed you!", Rayleigh exclaimed, bearing a genuinely excited expression for the first time in months.

He also approached his wife, greeting her through an affectionate glance.

"Do you want to hear a story?", the old man asked his guests, intending to initiate a conversation. Friendships are made this way, and the first mate of the Roger Pirates liked every person in the same room as him.

"Yeah, we do.", the Straw Hats interested in stories, meaning everyone but Zoro and Franky to an extent replied, waiting for Rayleigh to begin.

…

40 minutes later:

Silvers Rayleigh told an incredible story. The greatness of Gol D. Roger explained itself as everyone listened to his smooth words from his satisfying story. Many were still speechless as the literal right hand of the former Pirate King told about Roger's sacrifice, his incurable disease and how he handled it. Overall very impressive and feels inducing.

"Roger was my captain… and a great man."

Letting the story sink in, the navigator added her opinion. "Such an amazing story… feels totally different when told by a person who's actually experienced it."

"Pops also told me stories about the Pirate King. Never knew the complete story would be so much better.", the 2nd Division Commander uttered, staring at the old man.

"Two people at least Luffy-kun knows well, who took something away from Roger that day are Shanks and Buggy, our former cabin boys.", Rayleigh spoke, prompting Zoro to turn his head towards Nami.

"Oi Nami, isn't it awkward Shanks and _Buggy_ served on the same ship once?", the green-haired asked, remembering how much of a joke the clown was.

"Uh huh, I don't get how they turned out to be so different today.", the orange-haired answered.

The old man directed his attention towards Luffy again. "Luffy-kun, when Shanks visited me after years, he missed an arm and his favourite straw hat. When I asked him about it he told me about a kid in East Blue who said the same words as Roger.", he told, having noticed the obvious similarities between his captain and the boy since they first met. "Do you understand now why Shanks and I hold you in such high regard?"

"Shishishi, nice and all, but I don't want to copy Roger in anything except his title. I want to do my own thing.", the strawhat announced, smiling widely.

This caused Rayleigh to smirk. "Ha, you said something Roger would say! So tell me, what will you do to conquer the seas and become Pirate King?"

"I don't want to conquer anything.", the future Pirate King affirmed, knowing he's said this before but saying it again because it was the truth. "I only think that the freeest man in all seas is the Pirate King. I want to be the freeest man in the world."

"Huhu, Roger again.", the former first mate teased, nearly giggling alongside his wife. "But you came up with this view of life yourself, so that's the first step.". His demeanor changed from playful to a little bit more serious. "I'll do the coating for you guys for free, no worries about things like pricing."

"Free?!", the ginger exclaimed, the feeling of happiness overflowing. "God, you're such a nice man. Thank you!"

Robin, thinking to have found the perfect time to ask, finally decided to quit her silence. "Rayleigh-san, what is the Will of D?", the Oharan inquired, making Rayleigh communicate with her on the same wavelength. He himself realized immediately that the topic meant a lot to her. "On the Poneglyph in Sky Island I found a note in the old script, and it bore Roger's name. How was he able to use the writing? Is it possible that you people know just what happened in the world during the 'void century' 900 years ago?"

"Sure I know.", the old man answered hesitantly, looking downwards. "Truth is, we found out the entire history."

What the archaeologist thought was confirmed by the first mate of the former Pirate King, her heartbeat accelerated. She was close to learning about a mystery following her for decades.

"But my girl, don't get all heated up. You should all keep on going in this ship, one step at a time.", he suggested, calming her down. "Maybe we, as well the people of Ohara may have all been too hasty. Even if I were to tell you all about the history right here and now, as of right now you wouldn't be able to do a thing. No, you take a good look at the whole world and who knows, you may even reach to a different conclusion to the one whe arrived at.". Rayleigh's lecture knocked a little sense into the 289 Million Berry woman, reminding her not to rush matters. "If, however, you still wish to hear it regardless, then I will tell you everything."

It takes a smart person to process wise words quickly. After not even two seconds, Robin looked down and made up her mind. "You need not speak of it, I will continue my journey."

"One day you will see the truth. It was a shame what happened to your home island Ohara, but don't think Roger was able to decipher the Poneglyphs. He was not an intellectual like you scholars, he only had the power to hear the 'voice of all things'. That's all there is to it.", the old man clarified, setting and end to this topic.

Last time, Usopp wanted to ask Rayleigh about the One Piece. The rubber man yelled and berated him for that, but after learning the secret Luffy hid from him the long-nosed knew better. There was no point in asking, he'd see it with his own eyes anyway one day. "Old man, have you seen the One Piece?"

"Well yes, I have.", the first mate of the Roger Pirates said, wishing the sniper wouldn't ask about the treasure right there.

"Good! Let me tell you that we'll be the second ones to see it, I'm not going to ask you about it or anything.", the sharpshooter spoke, scratching the back of his head. The final part seemed awkward to him.

Luffy remembered he only got to be in front of Raftel, not on Raftel. While he was happy about the markman's character progression, he also was glad to have remembered that in time.

"Ahem", the old man began, changing the topic again, "the coating will take some time. Maybe I'll even have to coat your ship in a different place. I'll give you a piece of a Vivre Card belonging to me, you guys know how to use it?"

"We do.", the navigator, voice of reason among the Straw Hats stated.

"That settles it, then. I need no less than 3 days for the coating. Meet me in three days.", Rayleigh spoke, turning away to get his coating tools after distributing Vivre Card pieces to the Straw Hats and Sabo. He was going to begin the process of coating very soon, but had to be on guard. Maybe the Celestial Dragons called an Admiral, maybe they didn't. Even for him the possibility was hard to gauge other than 50-50, nobody could guess what went on in the minds of the three Tenryubito after such a torture scene from the black-haired.

…

Meanwhile, things weren't looking good for thousands of pirates in Sabaody. Kuma and Sentomaru were capable fighters posing a threat to the Supernovas alone. Kizaru on the other hand destroyed them left and right. Drake, Apoo, Urouge and Hawkins were humiliated, they never got to deliver an actual hit on the Admiral. And if it wasn't for Sentomaru calling the Light man on his Den Den Mushi, Hawkins would've died. Although Borsalino was a goof, he was by no definition weak. Rookies experienced this fact first hand.

After Sentomaru and his Pacifista squad were reached by the Marine, they decided to fulfill the task they were given, arresting Monkey D. Luffy upon sight. Kuma wasn't anywhere near them yet. His time to shine was yet to come.

Simultaneously, after saying goodbye to Keimi, Hachi and Pappug, Straw Hats and Sabo exited Shakky's tavern. The farther they went from the bar, the more pirates and outlaws came running into the opposite direction.

"Man, I can't freely talk about how glad I am to have met this old man.", Franky complained, fully aware there was a big turbulence occuring on the mangroves. "All this unrest gives me the feeling we're dealing with dangerous forces."

"Absolutely, Franky-san.", the Yonko Commander agreed with him, his eyes forming a stern glare. "I can no longer ignore these vibes. Luffy, what have you done while you were away?"

Before the orange-haired could warn the blond from accusing his brother too quickly, the 17-year-old took responsibility. "No need, Nami. Yes, that is the aftermath of something I decided to do. To cut things short, I did the worst thing one could do to a few World Nobles without killing them.", the strawhat admitted, bewildering knowledgeable people around him beyond disbelief.

Nami, Sanji, Robin, Franky and Sabo were petrified from shock. _"How could you?!"_ , they hissed, infuriated with him. Of course their love for the future Pirate King was unconditional, though this time they were extremely angry with him.

"For those of you who don't know who World Nobles, otherwise known as Celestial Dragons or Tenryubito are, they are the descendants of 20 kings who created the World Government. They don't obey to any rules or laws, they make them. They're virtually untouchable and if they feel attacked in the slightest they can call an Admiral.", the Oharan informed, explaining who the Tenryubito were in a nutshell.

Zoro, Usopp, Chopper got the rough idea that those people were scummy royals, they'd seen, heard and witnessed enough from people like them. But the fact that they could send Admirals after people on a whim made them rethink if what the 360 Million Berry man did had even a fraction of a good thought to be an idea in it.

"An Admiral?! Those men are super powerful, I can't understand why you did that, even if they deserve it!", the long-nosed ranted, scared him or any nakama could be done harm to by the approaching Admiral. "He's searching for us right now, I'm calling it!"

"To be fair I thought I scared them to the point where they wouldn't call an Admiral.", the rubber man added, forcing the sniper to grab him by his captain's coat. "That's not how you expect things to go your way!"

Suddenly, the cook's Observation haki truly bloomed. The blond trained and practised an awfully lot during free time and training sessions. Sooner or later he would've achieved Observation haki on the level he didn't have to close his eyes anymore regardless, but a powerful incoming attack pushed it to the point of getting unlocked. "Incoming!", the Vinsmoke shouted, eyes wide open. He briefly pointed at the sky, pointing out the direction of the attack.

Kizaru's laser hit where the 154 Million Berry man predicted, if his Observation haki didn't help there would've been injuries. The thin but destructive beam's impact created a crater on the ground. All the grass which once grew on that spot burned away super quick.

On top of the surprising attack of the Light man, approximately 300 meters away Sentomaru and two Pacifista were arriving to the scene. Despite the heat of the moment, two 'Kumas' seemed to be a bigger issue to most of the Straw Hats.

"Hold on, we've seen this guy on Thriller Bark! Why's there two of them?!", the ginger exclaimed in disbelief, unable to think how that was possible.

"Who has a cloning devil fruit?!", the reindeer yelled, his guess being Sentomaru.

Due to good ears Sentomaru easily heard everything. "I'm no fruit user.", the large man stated, taking his broadaxe from his back. "And these two aren't Bartholomew Kuma. These are human weapons modeled after Bartholomew Kuma, created by the genius Dr. Vegapunk. They're called Pacifista.". Noticing himself how easily he gave away information, the axe wielder had to speak out his excuse again. "By the way, I, Sentomaru have the tightest mouth in the whole World Government. I don't have to tell you anything, I'm only saying things because I want to."

'Right…', the weakling and mid trio thought, sweatdropping.

After a short while, while light particles reformed Borsalino's body, the third Kuma walked towards the scene. He was the actual Bartholomew Kuma, former Revolutionary Army member and former king of Sorbet Kingdom.

Nami rolled her eyes. "Another Pacifista?", she asked Sentomaru, who slowly shook his head. "No, he must be the real Kuma. I haven't given an order to any Pacifista to come from that direction.", he answered, pausing for a few milliseconds before adding his excuse. "I'm not telling you this because I can't keep my mouth shut, I'm only saying this because I intend to avoid confusion."

"Oooooh, Bartholomew Kuma!", the Admiral slowly spoke, stretching his sentence. "I didn't expect you here. Why have you come?"

The Paw man wasn't really an enemy of the Marine, he merely had a mission. Silvers Rayleigh, the 'Dark King' was an actual enemy of the Logia user, but did things according to his own will. That enemy nearly kicked Kizaru in his slow head. Slow reflexes were naturally a trait of Borsalino, but being an Admiral required high level haki. At the last moment, the Admiral blocked the haki-enhanced kick with his wrist.

"What a surpriiiiise!", the Light man let out, wondering why the old man decided to attack him. "Looking out for small-timers like these, eh…? And to think you really were on this archipelago like I've heard so often… Small world."

"Their era has yet to begin, whereas I should be able to live out my retirement in peace. Would you guys kindly tear up my wanted poster?", the first mate of the former Pirate King jokingly asked, not expecting a yes under any circumstances anyway.

"Your sins as a pirate won't disappear, not to mention you were one of the Roger Pirates.", the Logia user explained, clarifying the World Government wasn't forgiving or forgetting. "But if we tried to capture you here, we would have to make certain preparations. Now give me a break… if I don't capture at least Monkey D. Luffy here, the Marines will lose face with the Tenryubito of Marie Geoise. Won't you stay out of my way?"

While Kizaru had his hands full with Rayleigh, Kuma quickly teleported next to Luffy with the intent on whispering his aim in the strawhat's ear.

"It's too early for your crew to get involved with Admirals and Marineford, I will get them out of here."

'There goes my plan. I wanted to train together with my nakama but I have no choice!', the black-haired thought, complaining how he still had to be seperated from them. 'I really can't take them with me for Marineford. Maybe Zoro and Sanji but it would be unfair for the others.'

"Go ahead.", the 17-year-old whispered back, regretting and not regretting what he said at the same time.

Following that, the Shichibukai briefly appeared besides the old man, letting only the most important information exit his mouth. "I am a member of the Revolutionary Army. Because of this, I wish to let this crew escape."

"And you expect me to believe what you've said?", Rayleigh questioned, doubting that was the full story.

"That is up to you. Even I have doubts in this matter.", the cyborg said, calmly and objectively.

Borsalino was suspicious, very much at that. Still, he maintained his personality. "Just what are you up to, Kuma? This is why you can't trust pirates."

Kuma ignored the Admiral. It wasn't his duty to justify his reasons or report any action of his to the Marines. Soon he'd lose his free will, until that he wanted to fulfill his missions as fast as possible and without failure. He straight up walked over to Chopper and Usopp, repelling them far away without any words.

"What the fuck?!", Sanji cursed, gritting his teeth. He didn't expect the bear-like man to do this at all.

"He just did it again, like on Thriller Bark!", Nami called, frightened and more importantly worried about her two nakama.

"That man… he's legit more terrifying than anyone else I've met in the last 50 years…", Brook gulped, unsheathing his cane sword. He made the skeleton sweat, even though a skeleton shouldn't sweat.

"Get… back…!", Zoro warned, aware that one tiny mistake could let them be repelled away immediately.

Things were getting more heated than ever for the Straw Hats, even surpassing Enies Lobby, except this time it was more of a helpless situation. That hour was one of the key timeframes greatly affecting the pirate crew. Silvers Rayleigh pulled out his sword, the Logia user created one. "Ama no Murakumo!"

And they clashed, the friction and shockwaves coming from the blades colliding were overwhelming.

"Phew… Well, this is trouble… And I came here so casually too…", the Light man complained without raising his voice. All he wanted was his mission to not have any difficulties for him, but as if fate wanted to say fuck you, one of the world's strongest stood in front of him.

"Light always throws you curves, Kizaru!", the old man reminded, not backing down against Kizaru.

Meanwhile, the shipwright and the navigator didn't react fast enough to the swordsman's warning. The Paw man sent them flying in different directions at speeds human eyes can't see.

"Nami!", the chef exclaimed under high pressure, regretting he couldn't save the girl he loved.

"This is getting out of hand!", the first mate of the Straw Hats snapped out, getting more desperate than in the fight against Tashigi. For other reasons, but despair means despair. Never good no matter the circumstances.

The former Revolutionary was serious in his mission. His objective had to be carried out perfectly. Even to the left and right hand of the future Pirate King a serious Kuma was way too fast to deal with. He didn't leave them a chance. So, the 320 Million Berry man and the 154 Million Berry man were warped away, beginning a flight of 3 days and nights.

And he didn't stop there, some Straw Hats still had to go.

"Yo-", was the last thing the musician could escape his lips on Sabaody. Then he was in the sky far away, flying away even further.

"Luffy!", the archaeologist desperately screamed out, calling for help before vanishing.

"Ugh!", the rubber man let out, slamming his eyes shut and clenching his teeth. 'Damn it, what is this?! Is what I'm doing right or not, I don't know! Should I have managed things differently, I don't fucking know either!', he thought, his morals clashing within his mind. Luffy was crazy on emotion.

"Are you going to send him away too?", Kizaru questioned, inwardly feeling to have been taken the piss out of. Borsalino came here for one rookie and was now forced to fight the first mate of the Roger Pirates and said rookie was about to disappear somewhere not worth tracking. Aside from having to fight Silvers Rayleigh the fight didn't look like it was to have an end in foreseeable time. A complete joke. "This is problematic… I suppose you have an explanation for this."

Instincts guiding him, Luffy grabbed Sabo tightly by his hand. The older brother had been perplexed ever since the bear-like Shichibukai appeared, he didn't know what the hell was going on. Awaiting his departure, Luffy intensely glared at Kuma.

"We won't see each other again.", the large man announced, his voice bearing small hints of regret and sorrow. Strawhat Luffy didn't move as him and his adopted brother were slapped away together at insane speeds. "Farewell."

On that day, the Straw Hat Pirates were seperated.

* * *

 **Okay guys, hear me out. I know I've said in the description the hiatus will only last until September. It's December now. Sorry for that, but as I get older I have more responsibilities, more things to take care of. The one thing I can assure you is that no matter it takes I'll try to catch up with the manga.**

 **About the content, I know you'll have a few questions so I'll clear up some things now. Yes, Luffy will have long dialogues with Sabo, Rayleigh and Ace. With Sabo next chapter, with Ace and Rayleigh 4 chapters later.**

 **Constructive criticism allowed. Rate and review if you like.**


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